Washington - The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved the PRO-IP Act, a bill that would provide more resources for the government to combat intellectual property crimes, increase penalties, and create a White House-level position to coordinate efforts. The bill, which was already amended to remove a portion that would have penalized each track on compilation CDs as a separate infringement, will now move to a vote in the full House; a Senate version of the bill was introduced last fall.

Another amendment to the bill makes clear there must be a "'substantial connection' between property to be seized, such as a computer, a car or a house, and any violations of the copyright law," according to Gigi B. Sohn, president of public interest group Public Knowledge.

Groups chiming in to praise the bill's passage in the Committee included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Copyright Alliance and the National Music Publishers Association.

"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. I urge the full House of Representatives to consider this legislation soon," said NMPA president and CEO David Israelite.

Related Links:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.4279 (Text of PRO-IP Act)

http://snipurl.com/26jfg (DMW previous coverage)

http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1543