New Balance Shoes Supports SOPA
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:date: 2011-12-23 16:01:00
:author: bnewbold
:category: text
:slug: 2011-12-23-new-balance-shoes-supports-sopa
:status: published

My letter:

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    I am a Boston native and a long time dedicated New Balance customer. I have worn New Balance sneakers on all seven continents and am wearing a pair right now. I think the product is great (I tell everybody who asks), and more importantly I feel like I can relate to the values and ethics of your business (more than I can say for most companies in your industry).Which is why I am so disappointed to see "New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc." was a co-signor of an industry letter this past September in support of legislation like the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).Having dealt with copycat and counterfeit goods with my own business in the electronics industry, I can empathize with the frustration of being undercut by shoddy imitations produced under ambiguous working conditions. But the SOPA bill would be ineffective in actually addressing these problems, would egregiously damage the increasingly important Internet sector of our economy, and greatly undermine the core values and civil rights that make this nation special. There already exists an extensive body of legislation for pursing intellectual property claims, enforced at the taxpayer's expense. It is inappropriate to re-engineer the entire internet infrastructure to ease a single form of policing and seizure, especially with such weak oversight and understanding of the implications. SOPA throws out the baby with the bath water, and given the quality of debate there is little hope that it's many problems can be fixed.New Balance has achieved a lot. I am optimistic that you will withdraw support for this harmful legislation and find more just ways to keep your business healthy and competitive. The alternative is to lose part of your loyal consumer base.

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Response:

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    Thank you for contacting New Balance regarding this legislation. Our supportfor this legislation stems from our desire to protect our intellectualproperty from unscrupulous parties that cause damage to our brand, affectour ability to create jobs and cost consumers millions. We have heard yourconcerns and are in contact with industry groups regarding the same. Please let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns by emailor at 1-800-622-1218.

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Even GoDaddy has backed down; I hope I don't need to find a new sneaker
manufacturer.

For the record, despite loads of marketing New Balance only produces
about 25% of their shoe products in the USA. I do appreciate their
efforts though.