[Infowarrior] - IP Czar Appointed, goes into OMB

[Richard Forno]

Obama Finally Appoints IP Czar... Puts It In The Wrong Departmentfrom  
the of-course dept
In a move that surprises no one, the Obama administration finally got  
around to officially nominating Victoria Espinel to be the IP Czar, a  
position that was created out of thin air a year ago in the ProIP Act,  
though the position went entirely unfilled until now. Hollywood  
lobbyists have been pushing the administration to appoint someone ever  
since the spring, and VP Joe Biden had to come out and calm Hollywood  
execs and lawyers by promising them the "right person" would be  
appointed (meaning: not someone who is interested in copyright reform).

And yet... there was no appointment for so long. Why? Well, a few  
weeks ago, it was explained that there was a fight over where to put  
the position and under what group Espinel's office would exist. The  
most obvious group was the Office of Science and Technology Policy.  
The problem? Most of the folks in OSTP actually seem to understand the  
problems of copyright law. They're fans of openness and understand  
things like Creative Commons. Entertainment industry lobbyists started  
to freak out again, that even if they got someone on "their side,"  
that placing them in OSTP would stifle them, as the rest of the group  
might (gasp!) actually push back on attempts to stretch copyright  
enforcement towards the maximalist position. Instead, they wanted the  
position to be either its own office (entirely unlikely) or, in the  
Office of Management & Budget. Why OMB? No good reason. The position  
doesn't fit there at all... but putting it there keeps it away from  
those darn "copyleftists" in OSTP.

So where did the position end up? Yup... it's a part of OMB, just like  
Hollywood wanted. Lobbyists on all sides of the equation -- including  
consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge, though, are saying that  
Espinel is a good appointee. I certainly hope so, though I disagree  
that the position should exist at all. Also, Espinel was formerly the  
IP boss for the US Trade Representative -- a group that has been known  
to push for more draconian IP laws, and to do so cloaked in secrecy.  
So... I'm hoping to be surprised, but putting the office in OMB and  
having someone from USTR isn't encouraging

http://techdirt.com/articles/20090925/1549476326.shtml