AMMAN - "We will take measures to protect our IP," Glen Gieschen, director of Gieschen Consultancy told ag-IP-news Agency. A press release entitled "ICC BASCAP Becomes a Pirate to Fight Piracy" was circulated by Gieschen on April 30.

In his press release, Gieschen reveals Intellectual Property (IP) 'theft' committed mid last April; when he detected that massive amounts of data and content from BASCAP.com, Gieschen Consultancy operated and provided licensed content to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) based in Paris, France, were downloaded.

"Gieschen Consultancy controlled and managed the website and direct access to the database for this very reason.  There was also an agreement that they would not download the database."

"The database alone contains a tremendous amount of intel with more than 10,500 incidents of raids and seizures related to fake and pirated goods valued in excess of $7.64 trillion. The irony in this situation is that we must now protect our own investment in our intellectual property, business information, and trade secrets,” Gieschen highlighted in its press release.

It was determined the culprit originated from the IP address 82.108.223.98 whose owner was registered as the ICC's own Commercial Crime Services in London, England.

Extremely shocked over this action, Gieschen noted that "it is both surprising and extraordinary that an organization dedicated to protecting intellectual property would take this action."

The following day of the downloading incident, a cease and desist letter was sent by Gieschen Consultancy to determine if the ICC intended to use the copyrighted content without authorization. The ICC responded by threatening a defamation lawsuit if Gieschen informed its clients and stakeholders regarding their actions.

However, Gieschen publicly revealed this act saying that “we deeply regret the need to inform our clients and stakeholders, given the circumstances surrounding the activities of the ICC, we believe that we have no other choice," Gieschen explicitly said that he will be monitoring closely any possibility that this action might occur again.

Gieschen Consultancy monitors counterfeit and piracy activity worldwide providing intelligence, analysis, and reporting to stakeholders who seek to develop improved strategies to protect products, improve enforcement and education.