[Infowarrior] - Controversial Pro-IP Act sails through Judiciary Committee

[Richard Forno]

Controversial Pro-IP Act sails through Judiciary Committee

By Ryan Paul | Published: April 30, 2008 - 06:55PM CT

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080430-pro-ip-act-passes-in-the-house
.html

The House Judiciary Committee has unanimously approved the Pro-IP Act, a
legislative proposal which aims to impose stronger penalties for copyright
infringement. The approval is no surprise, since the bill's chief sponsor is
committee chairman Rep. John Conyers.

The bill would create a new position for a federal copyright enforcement
czar, establish a new copyright enforcement division within the Department
of Justice, and would also permit law enforcement agents to seize property
from perpetrators of copyright infringement. A controversial provision in
the bill‹which would have significantly raised the financial penalties for
infringement by allowing the recording industry to collect damages for each
track copied from a CD‹was removed after receiving widespread criticism from
critics and intellectual property law experts.

The Judiciary Committee's approval of the bill has been welcomed by the
Copyright Alliance, an industry-backed group that has lobbied fiercely for
more extreme copyright protection. "The PRO IP Act contains numerous means
to increase copyright enforcement both domestically as well as abroad, where
the US Trade Representative's most recent report shows piracy remains
rampant," said Patrick Ross, executive director of the Copyright Alliance,
in a statement. "The Copyright Alliance applauds the work of the House
Judiciary Committee and the leadership of Chairman John Conyers and Ranking
Member Lamar Smith, for advancing this important piece of legislation today.
Given the high stakes involved, we expect expedient action by the full House
of Representatives."

The Pro-IP Act's property seizure issue is still contentious and viewed with
serious concern by many who have studied the systematic abuses of the same
practices in the War on Drugs.

Although the Judiciary Committee's approval is only the first step for the
Pro-IP Act and many challenges remain before it can become a law. Its
supporters are facing some time constraints, since the upcoming election
will likely slow down legislative efforts in Congress. If the Pro-IP Act
doesn't pass both chambers before the end of the year, they will have to
start again in the following session. The content industry will likely
continue its lobbying efforts in an effort to smooth out