The protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) is a cornerstone of our modern societies, all the more the so when innovation plays such a pivotal role -as it unquestionably does in Estonia as well. The United States has long worked together with Estonia in support of IPR, including through exchanging information and in training. It is important that this past week Estonia's justice system has passed down its first IPR-related conviction and sentencing of a domestic cyber-pirate. This week's conviction and sentencing of an individual who had openly dealt in illegally-obtained software for years is an important blow against this problem and surely it will not be the last.
We commend the efforts of Estonia's Organization for Copyright Protection in support of prosecutions of IPR violators as well as in informing the public more broadly on the importance of IPR issues. Just last month the organization's director, Erik Mandre and a number of his colleagues from the IPR sphere in Estonia were hosted at a luncheon by Ambassador Michael C. Polt at which our nations' collaborative efforts and future endeavors were discussed.