Technology is a key element to our everyday lives, but not everything is positive about it, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said at the Tech Museum Innovation on Friday. Technology can make us think we are better organizers, innovative, securing the future, but “we can’t forget there’s a dark side to almost any innovation,” he said in his speech.

Musakey resumed the issue in these words: “the continuing worldwide escalation and piracy poses a threat to both our economy and public safety,” which means criminals can extend their actions from IP crimes to other crimes, even more serious than that and with consequences on public safety. And the only way to counteract to that is by protecting intellectual property, an essential element to effective criminal enforcement.

Beyond the economic threat, piracy and counterfeiting support organized crime, Mukasey said, as more and more criminal investigations choose to finance their activities though IP crimes: “A primary goal of our IP enforcement mission is to show these criminals that they’re wrong,” he said. It’s not just about the economy, it is also about public health and safety (counterfeit pharmaceutical products, auto and airplane parts, electronics etc. can alter those aspects of life).

"Since that threat comes from so many different directions, our response has to proceed on several fronts. We need strong and coordinated law enforcement efforts, both at home and abroad; we need robust intellectual property laws; and we need adequate resources devoted to IP law enforcement,” said Mukasey, adding that the Department of Justice already began an extensive work in the United States through the Intellectual Property Task Force.

A movement towards stopping IP crime already began, and the United States got involved in the so-called “hacker-havens” investigations, where, in collaboration with local authorities, arrests for fraud and identity theft charges were made, Mukasey said, referring to the 11 Romanian citizens arrested in November last year by the country’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism. “It’s imperative that countries work together on cases like these to ensure strong enforcement worldwide.”