IP bill passes Senate, no civil enforcement power for DoJ

[kirby]

Source: Ars Technica

The PRO-IP Act, which would ramp up enforcement of intellectual property laws and stiffen penalties for infringers, won approval by unanimous consent in the Senate Friday—but only after legislators stripped out a controversial provision that would have empowered the Department of Justice to litigate civil suits on behalf of content owners and hand over the winnings.

Content industry groups, unsurprisingly, rejoiced at the news. RIAA head Mitch Bainwol called the legislation "music to the ears of all those who care about strengthening American creativity and jobs," while the US Chamber of Commerce dubbed it "a win for both parties and, more importantly, for America's innovators, workers whose jobs rely on intellectual property, and consumers who depend on safe and effective products." Less sanguine was Gigi Sohn of Public Knowledge, who though relieved at the removal of the civil enforcement language, argued that the bill "only adds more imbalance to a copyright law that favors large media companies."

The House version of the Senate language has been placed on the suspension calendar for Saturday, when it is expected to pass easily.

Read more: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080926-ip-bill-passes-senate-no-civil-enforcement-power-for-doj.html

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This bill is opposed by librarians , copyright experts, tech industry. Its a major gift to the RIAA/MPAA.

It is so sad the Sen. Leahy is behind this. We know where Leahy stands -- on his top five contributors list from 2003-2008, we see Walt Disney, Time Warner, and Viacom.

[Trillo]

1. Only those who can afford lawyers benefit from this. n/t

[rucognizant]

4. Not only that.........This IS BAD!

EVERY VISUAL ARTISTS GROUP is opposed to it.
I on $843.00 a month SS income will be forced to PAY to copyright MY OWN ORIGINAL WORK! I might do 8 pieces a month and already I don't have enough income to pay for the necessary items! food fuelutilities.......
This stifles originality in a world where the venues for artist's work has shrunk badly ( Readers Digest doesn't even pay an artist to do the back cover any more.) Now i makes work for predatory no talent middle men......to run a data base of work and collect fees. ( No not the govt copyright office///privatized.The bill doesn't EVEN set a fee....it could be anything!
This is parallel with driving small farmers retail store owners, fishermen out of business; ANYTHING that requires a person to be an independant thinker......................who might oppose the Walmart Corporatocracy!
Ted Kennady schanged these laws back in the 80's so that a c ina circle was the creators LEGAL right to OPWN the piece..............Now he is too sick to defend it!
I may picket Collins & SNowe on this one. They have plenty of welfare to offer me! Forget independance!

[TroubleMan]

2. This is a horrible bill.

Another bill to fuck over regular people. I hope it doesn't pass.

[harmonicon]

3. what bullshit

As someone who's supposed to benefit from this sort of thing (a musician/composer) I am totally disgusted. This kind of crap only serves those who leech off of artists, and nothing for artists themselves. How about the government putting some money into arts education? Hmm? Maybe spend your time on that.