Washington
- A U.S. House subcommittee on Thursday approved a bill that would beef up the
government's protection of intellectual property, after removing a
controversial provision that would have increased penalties for pirated
compilation CDs by allowing each track to figure as an infringement. The House Judiciary
Subcommittee on the Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property passed the Prioritizing
Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2007 (PRO IP Act),
which would create a White House-level Intellectual Property Enforcement
Representative, and new division within the Department of Justice, in addition
to raising financial penalties for copyright infringement.
"This bill will
go a long way towards making sure law enforcement agencies have what they need
to get the job done on both domestic and international fronts," said David
Israelite, president and CEO of the National Music Publishers Association.
The
provision relating to compilation CDs could have provided for penalties of up
to $1.5 million in damages for a single pirated CD containing 10 songs from
different artists, and was criticized by digital civil liberties groups like
Public Knowledge.
The bill now moves to the full House Judiciary Committee
before a floor vote; a similar bill introduced in the Senate last fall has yet
to be acted upon.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/2150m
(Computerworld)
http://www.publicknowledge.org
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc110/h4279_ih.xml
(PRO IP Act)
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