September 12th, 2008
Hollywood preps new copyright bills
Declan McCullagh reports over at News.com that Hollywood is gearing up for another copyright expansion attack. Two major bills this time:
No. 1 is the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act, sponsored by Leahy and Specter, the ranking members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. It would allows the Justice Dept to file civil lawsuits against anyone committing a copyright violation. So, rather than the studios and labels having to pay lawyers to file all these lawsuits, the taxpayers can foot the bill.
As a letter sent by EFF, the American Library Association and PublicKnowledge (PDF) says:
Movie and television producers, software publishers, music publishers, and print publishers all have their own enforcement programs. There is absolutely no reason for the federal government to assume this private enforcement role.
No. 2 is a little more reasonable. Sponsored by Democrat Max Bauchus of Montana and Republican Orrin Hatch, the International Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement Act forces the president to enact an enforcement plan including restrictions on government procurement involving nations that don’t do enough to fight piracy of American content.
