CHINA STEALS $200 BILLION A YEAR IN IP

SAN ANTONIO - October 19, 2011 - The Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee today accused China of widespread illegal cyber activity claiming that "$200b a year [is stolen] in IP and they steal to compete directly with US industry." He continued "I believe you can't steal your way to leadership of the world... we are going to ask you, our IC community, to make sure we are not going to find that out. Now is not the time to back off."

Perhaps he is referring to the recent private sector stats of $2 billion a year mentioned by COMCYBERCOM this week in San Antonio? - A call has been made to the Chairman's office seeking clarification - check back here for updates on this story.

UPDATE October 24, 2011

The House Intelligence Comittee responded to the MIL INT inquiry and provided the following sources in support of Congressman Rogers statistics. This puts COMCYBERCOM's statistical reliance on McAfree in an interesting new light.

“Every year, American companies in fields as diverse as energy, technology, entertainment and pharmaceuticals lose between $200 billion-$250 billion to counterfeiting and piracy.”

“According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, intellectual property theft costs American corporations $250 billion every year.”

“This data also shows that counterfeiting and piracy are costing the United States 200 to 250 billion dollars each year.”