CALL TO ACTION – HR 5374 SHOP SAFE – INFRINGEMENT IMMUNITY
The SHOP SAFE Act
U.S. House threatens to pass bill that helps Amazon escape liability for selling knock-offs.
Big Tech is trying to pull a fast one again. U.S. Representatives on the Judiciary Committee will be voting on a bill Wednesday, September 29, called the SHOP SAFE Act. This legislation grants immunity for trademark infringement to online selling platforms like Amazon, provided that their Chinese suppliers “attest” that they “have taken reasonable steps to verify the authenticity of the goods” and “agree not use a counterfeit mark”.
Seriously – this is an actual bill to be voted on tomorrow – Congress is offering up a proposal to waive liability for Amazon based on their implementation of an “honor system” for their Chinese suppliers!
DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE
The SHOP SAFE Act of 2021 is HAZARDOUS to inventors, entrepreneurs, and small business.
The SHOP SAFE Act HURTS, not helps, intellectual property owners.
THINK ABOUT THIS: When was the last time you saw huge corporations and big special interests all support a bill containing MORE (not less) regulation?
AND THINK ABOUT THIS: Why would the giant platforms who make more money from counterfeiting online like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Wish hail the SHOP SAFE Act as a cure?
Does the SHOP SAFE Act really make shopping online safer? The answer is NO.
The SHOP SAFE Act limits your ability to protect your IP online.
The SHOP SAFE Act makes protecting your brand online harder not easier.
The SHOP SAFE Act lets the platforms off the hook for their misdeeds.
The SHOP SAFE Act hurts small business.
What is wrong with The SHOP SAFE Act?
It adds a “safe harbor” for online marketplaces that lets them off the hook for legal liability.
Its “best practices” have already been tried and failed to stem the tide of pirated goods sold on sites like Amazon and eBay.
This legislation does not fix the real problem. Think about this: if the corner store sold counterfeit goods the way the online marketplaces do they would be in big legal trouble. But every day the online marketplaces escape liability using existing legal loopholes.
The SHOP SAFE Act doesn’t close the loopholes.
The SHOP SAFE Act gives the online platforms and the counterfeiters MORE LOOPHOLES!
YOUR HELP IS ESSENTIAL
1) IF YOU HAVE HAD TO DEAL WITH AMAZON COUNTERFEITS, CALL US RIGHT AWAY TO SHARE YOUR STORY.
2) LET US KNOW THAT YOU CAN PARTICIPATE IN A ZOOM CALL WITH YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY (TUESDAY, September 28).
3) CALL THE CAPITOL AT 202-224-3121 and tell your U.S. Representative to vote against the SHOP SAFE Act because it grants Amazon immunity for selling counterfeit goods on their website. It you can’t get through the main line call the local office. Tell your Representative that Amazon should be accountable for the products they sell on their platform.
If you bought skin cream for your grandmother on Amazon and it burned her face leaving permanent scars… Who should be held liable?
If you bought an genuine iPhone charger on Amazon and your iPhone caught on fire…Who should be held liable?
When you click ‘add to cart’ on Amazon and the perfume you bought your mother for Mother’s day turns out to contain Horse Urine… Who should be held liable?
When you order school supplies for your children using the ‘Buy Again’ button on Amazon only to receive counterfeits containing lead to poison your children…Who should be held liable?
If you bought a hover board on Amazon and your house burned to the ground due to it being a counterfeit battery…Who should be held liable?
When the dog leash you bought on Amazon snaps, recoils, hits your eye and blinds you for the rest of your life…Who should be held liable?
Amazon and their Chinese partners make billions of dollars peddling pirated goods that harm American consumers and honest small businesses. This law would perpetuate the shell game and grant Amazon and other online stores immunity for their misdeeds.
It’s about time that Big Tech stopped harming small businesses.
Thank you for helping STOP THE SHOP SAFE Act.
