----- Forwarded message from Dave Farber <[email protected]> -----
Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2011 09:33:52 -0500 From: Dave Farber <[email protected]> Subject: [IP] Fwd: WH will propose new digital copyright laws Reply-To: [email protected] To: ip <[email protected]> Begin forwarded message: > From: Richard Forno <[email protected]> > Date: February 8, 2011 8:57:51 AM EST > To: Undisclosed-recipients: <>; > Cc: Dave Farber <[email protected]> > Subject: WH will propose new digital copyright laws > > (Somehow I don't think this won't be "change you can believe in" -- unless > you're the entertainment cartel, that is. --- rick) > > February 7, 2011 10:11 PM PST > White House will propose new digital copyright laws > > by Declan McCullagh > > http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20030956-281.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 > > The Obama administration has drafted new proposals to curb Internet piracy > and other forms of intellectual property infringement that it says it will > send to the U.S. Congress "in the very near future." > > It's also applauding a controversial copyright treaty known as the > Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, saying it will "aid > right-holders and the U.S. government to combat infringement" once it enters > into effect. > > Those disclosures came from a report released today by Victoria Espinel, whom > President Obama selected as the first intellectual property enforcement > coordinator and was confirmed by the Senate in December 2009. There's no > detail about what the proposed law would include, except that it will be > based on a white paper of "legislative proposals to improve intellectual > property enforcement," and it's expected to encompass online piracy. > > The 92-page report (PDF) reads a lot like a report that could have been > prepared by lobbyists for the recording or movie industry: it boasts the > combined number of FBI and Homeland Security infringement investigations > jumped by a remarkable 40 percent from 2009 to 2010. > > Nowhere does the right to make fair use of copyrighted material appear to be > mentioned, although in an aside on one page Espinel mentions that the > administration wants to protect "legitimate uses of the Internet and... > principles of free speech and fair process." > > The usual copyright hawks in Congress applauded the Obama administration's > report. > > "I'm committed to strengthening the laws that promote investment, innovation > and creativity at home," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican who > chairs the House subcommittee that writes copyright law. "I share the view > that our criminal and IP laws need to be modernized to ensure that legitimate > online commerce is not crippled by rampant piracy and counterfeiting, much of > which originates overseas." > > In October 2008, President Bush signed into law the so-called Pro IP ACT, > which created Espinel's position and increased penalties for infringement, > after his administration expressed its opposition to an earlier version. > > Unless legislative proposals--like one nearly a decade ago implanting strict > copy controls in digital devices--go too far, digital copyright tends not to > be a particularly partisan topic. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, > near-universally loathed by programmers and engineers for its > anti-circumvention provisions, was approved unanimously in the U.S. Senate. > > At the same time, Democratic politicians tend to be a bit more enthusiastic > about the topic. No less than 78 percent of political contributions from > Hollywood went to Democrats in 2008, broadly consistent with the trend for > the last two years, according to OpenSecrets.org. ------------------------------------------- ----- End forwarded message -----
