Talking Like a Pirate? Good. Acting Like One? Bad.

Today is recognized—we’re not sure by whom–as “International Talk Like a Pirate Day.”

While talking like a pirate (“Ahoy, matey!”) might be fun and games, ACTING like a pirate by stealing or sharing music, movies, and software is not.  Many people think that piracy is an issue that only affects large software, music, and movie companies, but as we have seen from recent reports, small- and medium-sized businesses are preyed upon as well.

Small firms are the backbone of the U.S. economy and for innovation companies their intellectual property is their core asset. According to the 2010 International Property Rights Index shows a strong relationship between strong property rights—including intellectual property–and a country’s economic well-being. The report also notes that the loss of intellectual property (IP) rights leads to a decline in jobs and revenue.

Ensuring the competitiveness of small businesses by protecting IP rights should be a top priority for the U.S. Congress, particularly during this period of economic recovery.  By encouraging entrepreneurs to take risks and enabling them to attract investment, intellectual property rights have helped the U.S. lead the world in innovation.

Show your support for  policies that help to maintain or create an environment that inspires and rewards innovation, including aggressive action toward counterfeiters, and holding U.S. trading partners to the same standard.  And remember, it might be OK to TALK like a pirate today but it’s never OK to ACT like one.