Office of the GAO has called unreasonable assessments of damage to the economy by pirates and producers of counterfeit goods, writes Ars Technica. In a report sent to Congress, officials said that estimate the economic impact of piracy is very difficult, almost not impossible.

GAO reviewed the most popular assessments of damage caused to pirates by owners. The review includes both assessments, given by government agencies and industry.

The FBI could not explain exactly how they get their score. In the Customs and Border Protection U.S. could not locate the source of evaluation and abandoned it. The Federal Trade Commission just did not find the data which several times referred by representatives of American corporations.

Also considered unreasonable assessment of damage from piracy to authorship Business Software Alliance, suggesting that the damage from piracy for each case corresponds to loss of profits from a sale of single item. Motion Picture Association (MPAA), which also has its evaluation does not disclose the methodology for calculating damages and therefore may not be cited as the source of legislation.

GAO report - a consequence of the adoption in 2008 of PRO-IP Act and the appointment in February 2010 Victoria Espinel as coordinator for intellectual property. The one in the first days of work requests from right holders for reliable data related to their activities.