[ga] US Senate Drops Civil Enforcement Provisions from Intellectual Property Act

["Jeffrey A. Williams" <jwkckid1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

All,

  Although I am sure it will be days before the ALAC hears of
this, and weeks if not years before their leadership recognizes
the huge positive benefit of this, at least some on the GA will
and do.  This eliminates at least one avenue that the IPC cannot
hide behind or use to harass registrants, service providers of
all different sorts, and cuts one leg out from under the IPC,
in particular the RIAA and MPAA for the time being, but still
there is ACTA to deal with.  Let's just say for now that
Sen. Wyden was worried about his re-election and that
may along with some other senators, be where the rubber
meets the road, as is were...


U. S. Senator Ron Wyden

For Immediate Release:
Contact: Jennifer Hoelzer
(Wyden): (202) 224-3789

September 24, 2008
http://wyden.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=303564&;

Senate Drops Civil Enforcement Provisions from Intellectual Property Act

Washington, DC. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee today removed
provisions from S.3325, the Prioritizing Resources and Organization
for Intellectual Property Act of 2008, that would have involved
federal prosecutors in civil copyright cases.  The provision was
removed at the request of U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore) who released
the following statement:

"I am happy to announce that after substantial discussions Chairman
Leahy and the Senate Judiciary Committee have agreed to remove
provisions from S.3325 that would have resulted in a massive gift of
scarce federal resources to Hollywood and the recording industry.  I
regret that the legislation still includes provisions that overzealous
federal prosecutors could misconstrue to allow the seizure of
important components of our Internet infrastructure.  I will work with
Senator Leahy to clarify these provisions in the future.

"I congratulate the committee on their strong efforts to improve
enforcement of our anti-counterfeiting laws and hope those efforts
will aid federal efforts to protect American producers and American
jobs.

"The removal of Title 1 from the original version of S.3325 eliminates
a grant of federal power that was not asked for, or desired by the
Justice Department.  It would have had the effect of turning our
federal law enforcement personnel into collections agents for
industries that are more than able of taking care of themselves.   The
Justice Department has made clear that Title 1 would have resulted in
the diversion of federal resources from important criminal actions
into civil matters of questionable merit.

"Unleashing federal prosecutors on Internet communications and
discourse would also have a chilling effect on both commercial
activity and free expression.   Both the individual desire to share
ideas and creativity more broadly and the drive of business to expand
their markets and reach new customers have been the engines behind the
most dynamic and vital new industry in American history.   This is why
it is so important that unintended consequences not be allowed to tax,
throttle, or otherwise inhibit those creative forces.

"With over 30,000 civil suits filed by a single entity against
individual Americans it is clear that industry is more than able to
enforce its intellectual property rights in civil courts without the
contribution of taxpayer funds and busy federal prosecutors.  I
continue to urge the content industries to seek out distribution
models that take into account, and profit from, the new technologies
that have revolutionized the way Americans communicate, learn and
share information.

Regards,

Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 281k members/stakeholders strong!)
"Obedience of the law is the greatest freedom" -
   Abraham Lincoln

"Credit should go with the performance of duty and not with what is
very often the accident of glory" - Theodore Roosevelt

"If the probability be called P; the injury, L; and the burden, B;
liability depends upon whether B is less than L multiplied by
P: i.e., whether B is less than PL."
United States v. Carroll Towing  (159 F.2d 169 [2d Cir. 1947]
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