Attorney General Alberto Gonzales may not have a lot of pals in Congress these days, but he has nevertheless found someone willing to pursue the dramatic copyright crackdown lurking on his legislative wishlist.
Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) introduced a bill last week that appears to take its cues from controversial proposals circulated by the Justice Department chief in recent years, which include stiffer prison sentences for copyright-related crimes and creation of entirely new categories of punishable activities.
Notably, under Chabot's bill, called the Intellectual Property Enhanced Criminal Enforcement Act of 2007, it would be a crime not only to commit copyright infringement but also to "attempt" to do so. Such an offense would carry the same penalties as actually committing infringement--as would engaging in a "conspiracy" with two or more people to carry it out.
The bill would also double the prison sentences currently prescribed for copyright infringement violations, bringing them up to a range of 6 to 20 years.
Life behind bars would also be within the realm of possibility. Trafficking in counterfeit goods and services--including, for example, a hospital using pirated software instead of paying for it--could carry that hefty prison term "if the offender knowingly or recklessly causes or attempts to cause death" through his or her conduct, according to the bill.
The bill also grafts additional penalties onto the thorny Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which dictates it's unlawful to sidestep copyright protection technologies except in certain circumstances. Right now, violating those rules can land you up to 10 years behind bars and as much as $1 million in fines, but Chabot's bill would also require the criminal to forfeit any property used in any manner to commit the offense--or anything garnered directly or indirectly from the proceeds of the activity. (The same forfeiture obligations would also apply to a wide array of other copyright-related offenses.)
Digital rights activists are already bristling at the new language, which currently has no co-sponsors. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, for instance, has argued that the bill and similar past efforts would lead to more convictions of innocent people. In a recent blog post, EFF activism coordinator said he hopes the Chabot proposal "meets the same fate as last year's DoJ proposal and is stopped dead in its tracks."
The Recording Industry Association of America declined to comment. A Motion Picture Industry Association of America spokeswoman praised the effort, adding, "Enforcement is a critical part of overall intellectual property protection."
A relatively new Washington-based group called the Copyright Alliance, which counts both of the entertainment industry groups and a number of others among its membership, also applauded the bill's introduction. Executive director Patrick Ross said in a statement that Chabot "is to be commended for his effort to strengthen enforcement of creators' rights, such as increased resources for law enforcement and the reduction of international trafficking in pirated goods."
Whether the Republican-backed bill will go anywhere in a Democratic Congress already hostile to the attorney general is always wild card.
But now that consideration of an all-consuming patent law overhaul bill is mostly out of his hands, the Hollywood-friendly chairman of a House intellectual property subcommittee, Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), may have more time to revisit the wishes of his politically powerful constituents. (Chabot also sits on that subcommittee.) The Copyright Alliance's Ross predicted that the Chabot bill would likely be just the first of several legislative attempts to deter piracy.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales created quite a stir last month when he called for an aggressive rewrite of criminal copyright laws, including prison time for "attempted" copyright infringement, life behind bars for pirated software use, and more expansive wiretap authority in piracy investigations.
If anyone doubted his seriousness about that dramatic plan, look no further than the text of a speech the official delivered in Seattle on Wednesday.
"IP (intellectual property) theft is not a technicality, and its victims are not just faceless corporations--it is stealing, and it affects us all," Gonzales said, according to those prepared remarks, at an intellectual property event sponsored by the lobby group TechNet. "Those who seek to undermine this cornerstone of U.S. economic competitiveness believe that they are making easy money; that they are beyond the law. It is our responsibility and commitment to show them that they are wrong."
Urging the necessity of keeping the nation's copyright laws "up to date," he pointed specifically to the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007 (PDF), which was drawn up by his department and submitted to Congress in May.
In addition to the provisions mentioned above, that bill would allow more ready seizure of computers and other assets used to commit copyright crimes, punish certain "intended" copyright crimes, and require Homeland Security to alert the Recording Industry Association of America about attempts at importing "unauthorized fixations of the sounds, or sounds and images, of a live musical performance."
For a more detailed rundown of the additional penalties, crimes, and forfeiture of assets the Justice Department is backing, here's a handy list we prepared last month.
Although the Democratic-controlled Congress includes its fair share of copyright hawks, the attorney general hasn't been winning any popularity contests lately with the body as a whole lately, so the bill's prospects remain uncertain.
Update: A spokeswoman for Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), who heads the intellectual property panel that would handle such a proposal, said her boss is far more focused, at least for the time being, on bills dealing with patent system changes and immigration.
Proposed expansions to criminal copyright law put forth by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Monday aren't exactly getting rave reviews from some inside-the-Beltway groups.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association on Tuesday blasted the sweeping proposal as "outlandish" and argued it would undermine the legitimacy of the nation's intellectual property laws.
"Will office workers be wiretapped for lingering too long near the photocopier?" CCIA president and CEO Ed Black asked in a statement. "Will music fans be sent to prison if they fail to secure their digital devices to the satisfaction of the record companies?"
The Bush administration proposal calls for elevating criminal penalties for copyright infringement, including "attempts" to commit piracy, in a number of ways. The draft legislation would also authorize wiretaps for investigations of Americans who are "attempting" to infringe copyrights, a tactic now reserved for probes of murder and other federal felonies.
Gigi Sohn, president of the Washington D.C.-based advocacy group Public Knowledge, called the proposal's penalties "out of touch with reality" and the overall approach "full of bad ideas."
The most vocal advocates for antipiracy policy, however, continued to keep their views under wraps. Representatives for the Recording Industry Association of America and the Business Software Association both said Tuesday that they was still reviewing the documents internally and could not comment.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is pressing the U.S. Congress to enact a sweeping intellectual-property bill that would increase criminal penalties for copyright infringement, including "attempts" to commit piracy.
"To meet the global challenges of IP crime, our criminal laws must be kept updated," Gonzales said during a speech before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington on Monday.
The Bush administration is throwing its support behind a proposal called the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007, which is likely to receive the enthusiastic support of the movie and music industries, and would represent the most dramatic rewrite of copyright law since a 2005 measure dealing with prerelease piracy.
Here's our podcast on the topic.
The IPPA would, for instance:
* Criminalize "attempting" to infringe copyright. Federal law currently punishes not-for-profit copyright infringement with between 1 and 10 years in prison, but there has to be actual infringement that takes place. The IPPA would eliminate that requirement. (The Justice Department's summary of the legislation says: "It is a general tenet of the criminal law that those who attempt to commit a crime but do not complete it are as morally culpable as those who succeed in doing so.")
* Create a new crime of life imprisonment for using pirated software. Anyone using counterfeit products who "recklessly causes or attempts to cause death" can be imprisoned for life. During a conference call, Justice Department officials gave the example of a hospital using pirated software instead of paying for it.
* Permit more wiretaps for piracy investigations. Wiretaps would be authorized for investigations of Americans who are "attempting" to infringe copyrights.
* Allow computers to be seized more readily. Specifically, property such as a PC "intended to be used in any manner" to commit a copyright crime would be subject to forfeiture, including civil asset forfeiture. Civil asset forfeiture has become popular among police agencies in drug cases as a way to gain additional revenue, and it is problematic and controversial.
* Increase penalties for violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anticircumvention regulations. Criminal violations are currently punished by jail times of up to 10 years and fines of up to $1 million. The IPPA would add forfeiture penalties.
* Add penalties for "intended" copyright crimes. Certain copyright crimes currently require someone to commit the "distribution, including by electronic means, during any 180-day period of at least 10 copies" valued at more than $2,500. The IPPA would insert a new prohibition: actions that were "intended to consist of" distribution.
* Require Homeland Security to alert the Recording Industry Association of America. That would happen when CDs with "unauthorized fixations of the sounds, or sounds and images, of a live musical performance" are attempted to be imported. Neither the Motion Picture Association of America nor the Business Software Alliance (nor any other copyright holder, such as photographers, playwrights or news organizations, for that matter) would qualify for this kind of special treatment.
A representative of the Motion Picture Association of America told us: "We appreciate the department's commitment to intellectual-property protection and look forward to working with both the department and Congress as the process moves ahead."
What's still unclear is the kind of reception this legislation might encounter on Capitol Hill. Gonzales may not be terribly popular, but Democrats do tend to be more closely aligned with Hollywood and the recording industry than is the GOP. (A few years ago, Republicans even savaged fellow conservatives for allying themselves too closely with copyright holders.)
On behalf of Rep. Howard Berman, the California Democrat who heads the House Judiciary subcommittee that focuses on intellectual property, a representative said the congressman is reviewing proposals from the attorney general and others. The aide said the Hollywood politician plans to introduce his own intellectual-property enforcement bill later this year but that his office is not prepared to discuss any details yet.
One key Republican was less guarded. "We are reviewing (the attorney general's) proposal. Any plan to stop IP theft will benefit the economy and the American worker," said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the House Judiciary committee. "I applaud the attorney general for recognizing the need to protect intellectual property."
Still, it's too early to tell what might happen. A similar copyright bill that Smith, the RIAA and the Software and Information Industry Association enthusiastically supported last April never went anywhere.
CNET News.com's Anne Broache contributed to this blog.
- prev
- 1
- next
