Washington - A bipartisan group of senators on Thursday introduced the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008, a bill that would authorize the Attorney General to prosecute civil copyright infringement cases, and also includes measures to strengthen both civil and criminal copyright laws and beef up law enforcement resources to fight intellectual property crimes.

The bill was introduced by Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and ranking member Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), and is co-sponsored by Sens. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio).

The Senate legislation mirrors the PRO-IP Act, which passed in the House of Representatives earlier this year, and also includes a provision that would create a White House-level position to coordinate intellectual property law enforcement across government agencies.

The bill introduced Thursday was praised by copyright interests including the Business Software Alliance, Copyright Alliance, Motion Picture Association of America and National Music Publishers Association.

Opponents included intellectual property-focused public interest group Public Knowledge.

"This bill would turn the Justice Department into an arm of the legal departments of the entertainment companies by authorizing the DOJ to file civil lawsuits for infringement, forcing taxpayers to foot the bill," said Public Knowledge president Gigi Sohn.

Related Links:
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200807/072408a.html

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-s522/text

http://www.nmpa.org/pressroom/showrelease.asp?id=160

http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1676

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2326397,00.asp