COBLE HONORED BY SOFTWARE INDUSTRY

During a meeting in the nation’s capital today, the software industry recognized U.S. Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) for his leadership in protecting intellectual property rights. Congressman Coble – the past chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee that has jurisdiction over intellectual property issues – was honored by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) for his work on protecting computer files and copyrighted material.

Earlier today, Rep. Coble was presented with the SIIA Legislative Leadership Award during the meeting of the Government Affairs Council of the SIIA. Ken Wasch, SIIA President, noted that Coble was being honored for his “strong leadership on database protection in the 108th Congress.” For several years, Coble has been working on legislation to strengthen the protection of databases by increasing penalties for those who would illegally tamper with copyrighted material.

Coble, the current chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, said he was honored to receive the SIIA Legislative Leadership Award. “I am proud of our accomplishments, to date, in making databases secure and reliable for those who need to use them,” Coble said. “We will continue to fight the fight.”

The SIIA is the principal trade association of the software code and information content industry with more than 600 companies as members. SIIA members are software companies, e-businesses, and information service companies that develop and market software and electronic content for business, education, consumers, and the Internet