ENFORCEMENT
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Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement<br />
SECTION 2<br />
Without action, the number of infringers may<br />
continue to grow and may begin to crowd out<br />
legitimate creators. Looking ahead, industry and<br />
policymakers must ensure that mobile app platforms<br />
function as gateways to innovative and lawful new<br />
ways for users to engage with content. Needed<br />
improvements to the mobile app ecosystem could be<br />
achieved in a variety of ways, including coordinated,<br />
voluntary best practice initiatives, created through a<br />
multistakeholder process.<br />
ACTION NO. 2.15: Encourage research and<br />
development of industry standards and best<br />
practices created through a multistakeholder<br />
process involving a diverse set of interested<br />
parties to curb IP-infringing apps and abuses<br />
on app platforms while protecting the rights of<br />
users to use apps for non-infringing and other<br />
protected activities. Content owners and app<br />
developments, together with app stores and<br />
other relevant stakeholders, are encouraged to<br />
create or enhance existing tools that identify<br />
IP-infringing apps before they become available<br />
for purchase. IPEC and other relevant members<br />
of the U.S. Interagency Strategic Planning<br />
Committees on IP Enforcement will explore<br />
opportunities to support the development of<br />
balanced and measured best practices for app<br />
and app distribution platforms.<br />
5. Putting the Consumer First: Combatting<br />
Operators of Notorious Websites by Way of<br />
Consumer Education.<br />
The digital economy is a significant driver of U.S.<br />
economic growth, 74 but it cannot fully succeed if<br />
consumers do not trust their security and privacy<br />
online. The public and private sectors jointly share a<br />
responsibility to promote a safe and secure Internet<br />
that minimizes opportunities for deception and<br />
fraud and reduces the vulnerability of web users.<br />
Cooperation between the public and private sectors<br />
can bolster the security and integrity of the Internet<br />
environment while ensuring the free flow of information<br />
vital to the structure of the digital economy.<br />
By way of example, Internet and tech companies<br />
came together in the early-2000s to support an<br />
initiative to protect consumers from malware—<br />
computer viruses, spyware, and the programs<br />
that steal data, send spam, or otherwise infect a<br />
user’s computer—in a manner that consumers can<br />
understand, and learn from in the process. 75 This<br />
and other initiatives have resulted in something to<br />
which web users are now all well accustomed, i.e.,<br />
educational banner pop-ups informing a user that<br />
the target site is suspected of propagating malware<br />
(FIG. 42, alternate page).<br />
In this spirit, a leading search provider partnered<br />
with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in<br />
late 2015 to help give users more information about<br />
the dangers of visiting unsafe online pharmacies so<br />
they can make informed decisions. 76 The educational<br />
pop-up shown in Figure No. 43 appears when a<br />
participating search user clicks on a pharmaceutical<br />
site that has been cited by the FDA as a fake online<br />
pharmacy engaged in illegal activity, such as the sale<br />
of counterfeit drugs to U.S. consumers.<br />
FIG. 43: “Fake Online Pharmacy” Educational Pop-Up.<br />
This educational pop-up does not prevent users<br />
from visiting the site, but rather cautions them about<br />
the possible risks of proceeding to the site, and in turn<br />
provides links to resources where they can learn more<br />
about selecting a safe online pharmacy. If the owner<br />
of an affected site believes that the pop-up notice is<br />
in error, there is a process in place for that company to<br />
address the issue.<br />
These and other evolving online practices are<br />
educating the public and providing enhanced trust<br />
and security in areas that pose significant risk of harm<br />
to the public. There is an opportunity to develop new,<br />
and to refine existing, targeted educational campaigns<br />
for purposes of consumer protection. As exemplified in<br />
the FDA-Search example, public-private partnerships<br />
aimed at reducing the consumer knowledge gap<br />
through the development of appropriate education<br />
initiatives enable consumers to make better informed<br />
and safer online transactions.<br />
74