ASHCROFT TRIES TO STOP PIRACY `EPIDEMIC' PILLAGING FILM, MUSIC INDUSTRIES.

Byline: Evan Pondel Staff Writer

Trying to stem what he called a $250 million-a-year piracy ``epidemic,'' U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft on Tuesday outlined federal plans to end the illegal file-sharing that plagues the music and film industries.

Since March, the department's Task Force on Intellectual Property has stepped up efforts to prosecute both foreign and domestic intellectual property theft. But understanding the scope of piracy, especially via the Internet, has been a major source of frustration for both the federal government and the creative industries that contribute an estimated $600 billion to the U.S. economy.

Ashcroft said well-organized criminal enterprises are increasing in scale and sophistication, with terrorist groups now funding their needs through counterfeiting. The simplicity of disseminating millions of copies of stolen software, music and video with a single computer click is also thwarting efforts.

``There is a hemorrhaging of the work product of American citizens. And intellectual property is one of America's greatest resources,`` Ashcroft said Tuesday morning at the federal courthouse in Los Angeles.

Among the task force's recommendations: implement legal tools that would prosecute intellectual property criminals overseas under American law. The task force also recommended youth education programs that encourage respect for intellectual property - a campaign the Motion Picture Association of America has already begun - and increasing cooperation with businesses and individuals who have been victimized by acts of piracy.

Ashcroft would not disclose the cost of instituting such programs, though he did say the federal government is shifting resources and hiring more people to bolster the department's task force.

The attorney general's statements arrive the same day the Supreme Court refused to consider whether Internet providers can be forced to identify subscribers illegally swapping music and movies online. The music industry is seeking court intervention, arguing that more than 2.6 billion music files are illegally downloaded each month and the law is needed to identify culprits.

The motion picture industry has long been a proponent of government intervention with respect to piracy. The industry losses approximately $250 million a year to intellectual property theft, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.

To stem those losses, the justice department introduced Operation Digital Gridlock in August 2004, targeting intellectual property theft over peer-to-peer networks. The department is also in the process of beefing up its Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property units to prosecute those who commit cybercrime.

``By expanding the number of CHIP units and the number of able prosecutors devoted to investigating and prosecuting IP cases, the Department of Justice is appropriately and vigorously defending a sector of our economy,'' Dan Glickman, president and chief executive officer of the MPAA, said in a statement.

Evan Pondel, [phone]

evan.pondel(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

(color) John Ashcroft speaks at a Tuesday news conference about the Justice Department's anti-piracy plans.

Ric Francis/Associated Press