President George W. Bush signed into law Monday a new bill creating a cabinet level position to enforce intellectual property and copyright. The new position, known as the “copyright czar,” is part of the PRO-IP act, which was approved by the U. S. Senate in September.
Not everyone is thrilled about the creation of a new cabinet level position in charge of enforcing copyright law and intellectual property however. The Department of Justice has been particularly outspoken and considers the post unnecessary and possibly even counterproductive to ongoing investigations by DOJ.
The “Copyright Czar” will officially be known as the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, or IPEC. The position will answer to the office of the president and be part of the regular White House staff. The “Czar” will also chair a new committee comprised of representatives from various government agencies, including the Department of Justice, the patent and trademark office, Department of Homeland security, the FDA and others.
Critics suggest that the creation of the new position is adding more Byzantine layers of bureaucracy on top of an already bloated federal government. They are also quick to point out that under the PRO-IP act, the chairman is not authorized to “control or direct any law enforcement agency in the exercise of its investigative or prosecutorial authority.” This quote suggests to many that the position is simply a façade, lacking the bureaucratic authority to get anything done.
According to the bill, the job of the “Copyright Czar” will be to develop joint strategic plans to go after those who infringe on copyrights. The RIAA has expressed support for the creation of the position, and welcomes the additional help in their battle against pirated music and video. But many within the industry do not believe it goes far enough.
In fact, the original PRO-IP bill was chopped up and “watered-down” somewhat before being approved by the Senate. Several provisions were deleted from the original bill, including a section that would charge consumers with multiple counts of copyright infringement for each individual music album illegally copied or pirated. Critics pointed out that the exorbitant fees and legal expenses involved with this provision made it clearly out of proportion with the nature of the crime. Eventually the provision was dropped, though the National Music Publishers Association and the RIAA had expressed support for leaving it in.
One of the most common criticisms of the bill is that it is slanted heavily in favor of the recording industry, with virtually no consideration to the consumer. The RIAA, among other groups, has spent millions lobbying Washington on behalf of the bill.
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Well, it could be another stupid position to give away money to some buddy. It could also create a vicious watchdog post to help the government privatize its own documents or keep tabs on music theft! Who knows what those thieves are up too?!
Comment by Steven — October 17, 2008 @ 10:35 pm