WASHINGTON--A U.S. Senate panel on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a bill backed by the recording industry that would give federal prosecutors the power to file civil lawsuits against peer-to-peer users who violate copyright laws.
"We all know that intellectual property makes up some of the most valuable, and most vulnerable, property we have," said Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who introduced the bill with Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) in July. "We need to do more to protect it from theft and abuse if we hope to continue being a world leader in innovation."
So the war on the people by those who think they have the right to own all our ideas and culture, and distribute it only to those who are willing or able to pay, has begun in earnest, with the government's continued aid and support against its citizens.The Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America have supported the bill. On Thursday, the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also expressed their approval of the vote. Caroline Joiner, vice president of the chamber's Global Intellectual Property Center, said in a statement: "The full Senate can now demonstrate its solidarity with our talented innovators, workers whose jobs rely on intellectual property, and consumers who depend on safe and effective products."
In general, the bill toughens civil and criminal laws against counterfeiting and piracy. For instance, it amends current trademark law to double the statutory damages in counterfeiting cases.
Groups such as the American Library Association and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are opposed to portions, including the Justice Department pursuing taxpayer-funded lawsuits on behalf of private parties.
The act also expands the power of the White House by creating an IP Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) position within the executive branch. The IPEC would direct other agencies in a coordinated strategy to fight counterfeiting and piracy.
The bill also adds five new International IP Enforcement Coordinators to act as liaisons to foreign countries with respect to U.S. IP law enforcement.
We now have the government creating essentially an IP Tsar, like the drug Tsar, only instead of the war on drugs, it will be the war on free culture.
