More than 100 members of the US creative community have signed a letter to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) thanking him for his leadership in urging the credit card industry to implement voluntary steps that can prevent their services from being misused to fund pirate websites.

On November 25, Senator Leahy wrote to credit card company executives and asked them to sever ties with pirate sites and help reduce the for-profit theft of creative works.

The January 9 letter was signed by actors, writers, directors, producers, and other leaders from the creative community and reads, in part:

“We applaud you for highlighting the adverse impact on artists and creators caused by allowing websites that host and incentivise unauthorised content to operate like legitimate businesses.”

We further agree that the voluntary actions you urge the credit card industry to adopt can help reduce online piracy – to the benefit of individual creators and our creative economy. As you wrote in your letter, illegitimate enterprises that profit from the theft of creative works undermine the lawful, innovative digital distribution services that have flourished in recent years.”

In September, a study released by NetNames and the Digital Citizens Alliance found that the top 30 cyberlocker sites made nearly $100 million in revenue in the last year, from advertising and subscription payments processed by major credit card companies. In June, CreativeFuture commended leaders of the advertising community for their initiative to prevent the flow of ad dollars to pirate sites.

Categories: Articles, Content, Piracy, Rights