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Rosetta Stone Applauds Progress on Bipartisan H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act

"Rosetta Stone applauds members of the House Judiciary Committee for crafting bipartisan legislation to address the scourge of online piracy," said Tom Adams, CEO of Rosetta Stone. "Each year, intellectual property theft and the sale of counterfeit goods cost American innovators and manufacturers more than $100 billion and result in the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. The passage of legislation based on the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act and the similar Senate PROTECT IP Act will be a vital step in the fight against criminal activity conducted online."

The Stop Online Piracy Act has the bipartisan sponsorship of House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.), IP Subcommittee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), as well as an additional 21 House members as cosponsors.

U.S. law currently allows the Department of Justice to target U.S.-based websites that sell counterfeit products, but, unless anti-piracy legislation is enacted, foreign websites that engage in the same illegal activities will remain out of reach. Such websites, known as "rogue websites," often appear legitimate but are actually criminal enterprises that sell dangerous counterfeit products including prescription drugs, faulty electronics, and pirated software with viruses and malware. The proposed Stop Online Privacy Act will also enable American manufacturers to seek court injunctions against the rogue websites that seek to profit illegally from the online sale of counterfeit copies of their products.

"Rosetta Stone commends Congressman Goodlatte for his leadership in shepherding legislation to protect American businesses from the rampant IP theft committed by rogue websites," said Michael Wu, general counsel and corporate secretary of Rosetta Stone. "Like far too many other American companies, Rosetta Stone has felt firsthand the significant negative impact of online counterfeiting. We are targeted on a daily basis by foreign criminals that seek to profit from our heavy investment in product development and brand recognition-a process facilitated by the Google AdWords program, which has allowed operators of foreign rogue websites to place advertisements targeting unwitting American consumers. There is no good reason why Google should continue to transact with criminals and facilitate the rampant theft of American intellectual property. We urge Congress to pass the pending anti-piracy legislation this year to protect American jobs and innovation by halting the proliferation of rogue websites," Wu added.

Earlier this year, Rosetta Stone announced that it had reached settlements in cases against 77 individuals in for copyright and trademark infringement. Rosetta Stone is currently engaged in a case against Google regarding its ongoing practice of selling ads under the AdWords program to criminals operating rogue websites.

To report piracy of Rosetta Stone products or inquire about the legitimacy of Rosetta Stone products, consumers can e-mail piracy@RosettaStone.com.

About Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone Inc. is changing the way the world learns languages. Rosetta Stone provides interactive solutions that are acclaimed for the power to unlock the natural language-learning ability in everyone. Available in more than 30 languages, Rosetta Stone language-learning solutions are used by schools, organizations and millions of individuals in over 150 countries throughout the world. The company was founded in 1992 on the core beliefs that learning a language should be natural and instinctive and that interactive technology can replicate and activate the immersion method powerfully for learners of any age. The company is based in Arlington, Va. For more information, visit RosettaStone.com.

Rosetta Stone Inc.
Miranda Harper, 212-715-1641
harperm@ruderfinn.com