i2Coalition Opposes Treatment of Internet Data as Acts of Importation of Goods

ITC’s Decision Threatens Innovation, Free Expression and U.S. Economic Growth

On October 17, 2015, the i2Coalition and 11 other organizations sent a letter  to the U.S. International Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) opposing the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (ITC) decision in Certain Digital Models to regulate the transmission of data over the Internet as acts of importation of goods. The letter encourages the IPEC to curb application of the ITC’s decision and to investigate the Commission’s role over digital data transmissions.

The following is a statement from David Snead, Co-Founder and Public Policy Chair of the i2Coalition:

“The i2Coalition urges the U.S. International Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) to consider the breadth of the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (ITC) decision and its impact on digital trade. American businesses depend on the free flow of information across the Internet to reach their customers and to efficiently and effectively run their businesses. The ITC’s decision to treat all digital data transfers into the United States as ‘importation…of articles’ threatens to make almost every Internet transaction subject to ITC jurisdiction. The remedies available in an ITC proceeding strongly resemble those rejected by Congress in the SOPA/PIPA debates. This overreaching use of authority sets American Internet businesses, innovation and the U.S. economy up to lose

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