Proposed new piracy penalties advance in House

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: bobr () bobrosenberg phoenix az us [bobr () bobrosenberg phoenix az us]
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 5:12 PM
To: David Farber
Subject: C|Net News:  Proposed new piracy penalties advance in House

Hi Dave

Perhaps for IP.

"The bill would, however, rewrite U.S. law to allow federal officials to seize
property from convicted copyright infringers who made unauthorized copies of music,
movies, or live performances."

IANAL, but is a photograph of a live performance, a "copy" of that performance?

I seem to recall the Courts saying that, when in public, we have no reasonable
expectation of privacy.  Is my memory correct?

Cheers,
Bob
--
Bob Rosenberg
P.O. Box 33023
Phoenix, AZ  85067-3023
Mobile:  602-206-2856
LandLine:  602-274-3012
bob () bobrosenberg phoenix az us

**************

"Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of
opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly
repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and
creates a country where everyone lives in fear."
-- President Harry S. Truman, message to Congress, August 8, 1950

**************


 April 30, 2008 9:46 AM PDT
Proposed new piracy penalties advance in House
Posted by Anne Broache | 3 comments
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9932260-7.html?tag=nl.e433

A congressional proposal designed to stiffen penalties and enforcement against
pirates and counterfeiters moved a step closer to becoming law on Wednesday.

As expected, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee unanimously
approved a copyright holder-backed enforcement proposal known as the Prioritizing
Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property, or Pro-IP, Act, which is
chiefly sponsored by the committee's chairman, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.).

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the committee's ranking member, said the U.S. Department
of Justice is filing more intellectual-property cases than ever--217 in 2007--but
suggested that's still not enough. The bill's passage shows "there is a bipartisan
commitment to ensure the next president and succeeding administrations have the
resources, organizations, and strategies that are required to protect our vital
national and economic interests," he said in a statement.

The revised 68-page measure does not contain a controversial provision that would
have dramatically increased fines in copyright infringement lawsuits.

The bill would, however, rewrite U.S. law to allow federal officials to seize
property from convicted copyright infringers who made unauthorized copies of music,
movies, or live performances. That property could include computers or other
equipment used to commit intellectual-property crimes or obtained as a result of
those proceeds. In civil cases, the feds would have to establish that there was a
"substantial connection" between the property and the offense.

At a previous hearing, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said she worried that approach
doesn't address the possibility that property could be seized from innocent people
if a convicted pirate used it to commit crimes without their knowledge. (At least
one defendant in a peer-to-peer lawsuit brought by the RIAA was sued because someone
else was using their Wi-Fi access point.)

The bill would also create a new presidentially appointed position whose pick would
be charged with acting as a chief adviser on intellectual property enforcement
matters. The U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Representative, as the position
would be known, appears to be modeled after the U.S. Trade Representative, which
already has some intellectual property enforcement responsibilities and puts out an
annual report on global piracy.

The proposal also calls for the appointment of 10 new intellectual-property
"attaches" to serve in U.S. embassies and creation of a new "intellectual property
enforcement division" within the Justice Department. The Justice Department, for its
part, has been resistant to those bureaucratic changes, arguing that its current
setup is already effective enough.

The Copyright Alliance, a coalition of major copyright holders, and the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce, a pro-business group, were quick to praise the bill's passage.

"The Judiciary Committee has taken a necessary step to ensure America's innovation
industries continue to create jobs, develop creative products, discover the drugs
that cure critical diseases, and find cutting edge technology solutions to global
challenges such as climate change," Caroline Joiner, executive director of the U.S.
Chamber's Global Intellectual Property Center, said in a statement. "We urge the
full House and Senate to pass the legislation so it can be signed into law."



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