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)