U.S. to Get New IP Czar

tetraminoe writes "Reuters is reporting that Congress's latest spending bill provides for the creation of a federal copyright enforcement czar. According to the article, 'Under the program, the president can appoint a copyright law enforcement officer whose job is to coordinate law enforcement efforts aimed at stopping international copyright infringement and to oversee a federal umbrella agency responsible for administering intellectual property law.' It also gives $2 million to the National Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordination Council (NIPLAC), created in the '90s and never funded. NIPLAC will work to protect American IP overseas and oversee enforcement."

Re:IP Czar or P2P Czar

[Ironsides]

Read again. This isn't just movies and music. It's knock off goods posing as real goods. Such as purses, and physical CDs and DVDs. Nothing is mentioned about the internet. This should also include fake Games, computer equipment and many other things posing as real (Official) ones.

Re:Because we all know...

[Ironsides]

RTFA, this doesn't include just movies and music. It covers physical goods such as Clothing and other things. It will also cover books, electronics, games, hardware.

Re:Potentially useful for USA, but...

[cpt kangarooski]

Now the creation of someone to coordinate the United States' efforts to enforce international copyright law would be a good thing; who here thinks that its a good thing that you can buy "Oceans 12" or "Half Life 2" on the streets of Hong Kong today for 50 cents?

I think that there should be only two precepts of international copyright law: 1) National treatment, i.e. that you treat foreigners the same as one's own people, and 2) Avoidance of conflicts so that obtaining a copyright in one place doesn't preclude you from being able to in some other place.

There should NOT be any minimum standards, however. If a country feels it is in its own best interests to have more copyright or less copyright than another, or no copyright at all, then that is a perfectly valid decision and should be respected.

So to answer your question, if China thinks it's okay to have cheap pirated copies of just-released or unreleased works, then I think that that's fine. It's their decision. We don't have to follow it, but by the same token, they shouldn't have to follow us.

I'm all for leveling the playing field and making sure that US companies and artists get compensated for their work.

The problem is that the level playing field is still in the advantage of the US and Europe basically, because it is up to their level. And anyway, why should other countries care if we make money? Let it be our concern, and let their law be their concern.

Re:WTF is this 'CZAR' BS?

[truthsearch]

IIRC czar was the Russian word for Ceasar. The ceasar of Rome ruled a republic (most of the time). Although the balance of power continually shifted, ceasar was not "the ultimate rule in a non-free society." Elected senators wrote laws.

Geeks and Conservatives unite on P2P

[Nohea]

Criminal Penalties Suggested in S. 2560 are Anti-Consumer and Set Dangerous Precedent, Says ACU

http://www.conservative.org/pressroom/040920.asp [conservative.org]

Re:WTF is this 'CZAR' BS?

[Mant]

You're a little of base there.

Originally Caesar was Julius Caesar's name, nothing more. It was later taken by his grand-nephew, Octavius the first Emperor, and later became a title.

This [wikipedia.org] Wikipedia article has some info.

You seem to be thinking of Consuls, the highest executive office in the Roman republic. The Caesers after Julius where Emperors, and ruled an empire, not a replublic.

Re:IP Czar or P2P Czar

[mutterc]

security screeners at the airport are more concerned about searching 78 year old black men and 18 year old young ladies than some more obvious candidates

Minor point here...

Bruce Schneier points out that, if you're not going to search everybody, random searches are more secure than profiled searches.

Example: Suppose you have the resources to screen 20% of people coming through the airport. You can do this randomly or by a profile. If you select the victims randomly, then a Bad Guy has a 20% chance of getting caught no matter what. However, if you select the victims according to a profile, then if the Bad Guys learn what the profile is, and send someone through who does not fit the profile, they have a 0% chance of getting caught.

(Of course, he also points out that airport security is mostly security theater, there to make travelers feel safe and show Something Is Being Done).

Re:Finally

[mr_jrt]

So, in this copyright-less world of yours, where exactly would the means to enforce the dissemination of any changes you make to source code come from? No copyright means no right to restrict copies. Microsoft could take Linux, add a damn good Win32 layer and release a binary disribution as "Windows Server X".

Still sound as good?