International Intellectual Property Alliance

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The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) is a non-governmental organization comprising trade associations in the "copyright-based industries" of the United States. These associations in turn represent over 1,300 American companies. The IIPA was established in 1984.

1 Copyright-based industries
2 Purpose
3 Member groups
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Copyright-based industries

The term "copyright-based industries" denotes conventional cultural productions such as television shows or music recording as well as all software applications. The IIPA formed in response to a series of new technologies, from cassette tapes to peer-to-peer file sharing, that have disrupted the control over availability traditionally exercised by broadcasters, record labels, and other distributors. Since the IIPA's establishment, advances in telecommunications have increasingly made the personal manipulation of culture by consumers possible and dramatically reduced the cost of both reproducing intellectual property and transmitting it over national borders.

[edit] Purpose

The IIPA is one of several industry-based NGOs which seek to extend or enforce intellectual property protection for the products or services of its members. It monitors the enforcement of copyright laws in countries around the world and issues yearly assessments that rate each nation's compliance with international standards, while making recommendations for securing the rights of American intellectual property abroad. Given the importance of entertainment and computer technology as exports from the United States, controlling the flow of information has assumed a strategic significance to both private and public entities.

The IIPA works closely with the U.S. Trade Representative in formulating its proposals and pushing for their implementation.