Year in Review: Pro IP Act

In October 2008 President Bush signed the PRO IP Act – Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (S3325) and the legislation became law in the United States after nearly 12 months of consideration.[1] The Act under went significant changes along the way with a number of the original provisions being removed or redrafted.[2]

Initially the Bill included provisions which would have increased the statutory damages for copyright infringement with awards being made on a per song basis rather than on a per album basis.[3]

Furthermore the bill introduced an additional position of an ‘IP Czar’ but was to do so in addition to creating a new IP enforcement bureau.[4] This enforcement bureau was removed from the legislation and the existing International Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator relocated from the Department of Commerce to the Executive Office of the President.[5] Bush had threatened to veto the Bill on the basis that the creation of an additional arm of enforcement was unwarranted and would divert resources away from serious criminal investigations.[6]

Also of significance, provisions which would have enabled the Attorney General and the Department of Justice to commence civil lawsuits on behalf of content owners were removed.[7]

The legislation increases penalties for criminal intellectual property infringement and enhances resources for investigation.[8] It also enables the seizure of property used to commit criminal offences.[9]

Intellectual Property (not just copyright) is estimated to be worth more than $5 trillion based on US Chamber of Commerce figures, accounting for more than half of all US exports.[10] However other statistics used to argue for the introduction of the legislation and which suggested that IP theft costs the US economy $250 billion in lost revenue annually and resulted in 750,000 job losses were argued by some to be inflated and inaccurate figures.[11]

Critics of the laws suggest that protectionist legislation simply prevents the content industry from adapting to the conditions of the digital environment thus restricting growth and jeopardising future investment due to increased uncertainty and complexity.[12]

[1] EFF Deeplinks, Bush Signs Intellectual Property Enforcement Bill (17 October 2008) <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/10/bush-signs-intellectual-property-enforcement-bill> at 27 October 2008; Digital Music News, Copyright Coup: Anti-Piracy Czar Coming to Washington (15 October 2008) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/111408ip> at 15 October 2008; CNet, Business, labor urge Bush to sign RIAA-backed copyright bill (8 October 2008) <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10061942-38.html> at 11 October 2008; TechDirt, Congressional Hyperbole Used To Urge Bush To Accept A Copyright Czar (8 October 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081008/1336052493.shtml> at 10 October 2008; EFF Deeplinks, Senators Announce New Intellectual Property Enforcement Bill (29 July 2008) <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/senators-announce-new-intellectual-property-enforc> at 7 August 2008; ArsTechnica, Senator fuses controversial IP bills into big, bad package (25 July 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080725-senator-fuses-controversial-ip-bills-into-big-bad-package.html> at 28 July 2008; Digital Music News, House Backs Serious IP Protection Bill, 410-11 Vote (8 May 2008) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/050808pro> at 10 May 2008; TechDirt, House Passes Pro IP Overwhelmingly (8 May 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080508/1854491068.shtml> at 10 May 2008; billboard.biz, House Passes PRO IP Bill (6 May 2008) <http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i4552e786232dd91baa8a825cc2f79780> at 8 May 2008; CNet News, Proposed new piracy penalties advance in House (30 April 2008) <http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9932260-7.html?tag=nefd.top> at 2 May 2008; ArsTechnica, Controversial Pro-IP Act sails through Judiciary Committee (30 April 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080430-pro-ip-act-passes-in-the-house.html> at 2 May 2008
[2] EFF Deeplinks, Bush Signs Intellectual Property Enforcement Bill (17 October 2008) <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/10/bush-signs-intellectual-property-enforcement-bill> at 27 October 2008
[3] EFF Deeplinks, Bush Signs Intellectual Property Enforcement Bill (17 October 2008) <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/10/bush-signs-intellectual-property-enforcement-bill> at 27 October 2008; CNet NewsBlog, House OKs copyright czar, new piracy penalties (8 May 2008) <http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9939265-7.html> at 10 May 2008; InfoWorld, House panel kills controversial copyright provision (6 March 2008) <http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/06/House-panel-kills-controversial-copyright-provision_1.html> at 10 March 2008; Digital Music News, Protection Bill Gathers More Steam on Capitol Hill (7 March 2008) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/030608proip> at 10 March 2008; TechDirt, House Panel Deletes Higher Copyright Fines From Pro IP Bill, Leaves Plenty Of Other Bad Stuff (6 March 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080306/124250465.shtml> at 7 March 2008; ArsTechnica, PRO-IP Act is dangerous and unnecessary, say industry groups (5 February 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080205-white-paper-pro-ip-acts-damage-increases-are-dangerous.html> at 7 February 2008; Slyck, Copy a CD, owe $1.5 million under "gluttonous" PRO-IP Act (29 January 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080129-statutory-damages-not-high-enough.html> at 31 Janaury 2008
[4] EFF Deeplinks, Bush Signs Intellectual Property Enforcement Bill (17 October 2008) <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/10/bush-signs-intellectual-property-enforcement-bill> at 27 October 2008; Wired, Proposed Copyright Law a 'Gift' to Hollywood, Info Groups Say (10 September 2008) <http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/09/proposed-copyri.html> at 12 September 2008; TechDirt, Now The Senate Wants To Add A Copyright Czar To The White House (25 July 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080724/2345491787.shtml> at 28 July 2008; TechDirt, If We Don't Have A Copyright Czar, People Will Die? (25 June 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080624/1413081499.shtml> at 26 June 2008; ZeroPaid, Anti-Piracy Czar to be Created in US Congress (3 May 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9453/Anti-Piracy+Czar+to+be+Created+in+US+Congress> at 5 May 2008; TechDirt, Can Someone Explain Why The White House Should Be Playing The Role Of Copyright Cop? (1 May 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080430/194141989.shtml> at 2 May 2008; Wasingtonpost, House Bill to Create Anti-Piracy Czar Advances (1 May 2008) <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/30/AR2008043003360.html> at 2 May 2008
[5] EFF Deeplinks, Bush Signs Intellectual Property Enforcement Bill (17 October 2008) <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/10/bush-signs-intellectual-property-enforcement-bill> at 27 October 2008
[6] CNet, Business, labor urge Bush to sign RIAA-backed copyright bill (8 October 2008) <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10061942-38.html> at 11 October 2008; CNet News, Bush administration opposes RIAA-based copyright bill (24 September 2008) <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10050080-38.html> at 5 October 2008; ZeroPaid, Congress Passes PRO-IP Act, but Bush May Veto (1 October 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9776/Congress+Passes+PRO-IP+Act%2C+but+Bush+May+Veto> at 5 October 2008; TechDirt, Justice Department Says It Doesn't Want To Be Hollywood's Police Force; Senate Removes That Provision (25 September 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080924/1826062363.shtml> at 26 September 2008; CNet News, Bush administration opposes RIAA-based copyright bill (24 September 2008) <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10050080-38.html> at 26 September 2008
[7] EFF Deeplinks, Bush Signs Intellectual Property Enforcement Bill (17 October 2008) <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/10/bush-signs-intellectual-property-enforcement-bill> at 27 October 2008; Digital Music News, Senate Passes Anti-Piracy Measure; Civil Enforcement Omitted (29 September 2008) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/092608senate> at 5 October 2008; ArsTechnica, DoJ to Senate: don't make us be Big Content's copyright cops (24 September 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080924-doj-to-senate-dont-make-us-be-big-contents-copyright-cops.html> at 25 September 2008; Slyck.com, Public Knowledge Fights Bill Giving Feds Civil Enforcement Power (11 September 2008) <http://www.slyck.com/story1765_Public_Knowledge_Fights_Bill_Giving_Feds_Civil_Enforcement_Power>a t 21 September 2008; EFF Deeplinks, Copyright Enforcement Bill Being Pushed to Fast Track (16 September 2008)<http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/09/copyright-enforcement-bill-being-pushed-fast-track> at 21 September 2008; ZeroPaid, Senate Judiciary Committee Approves P2p Crackdown Bill (17 September 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9753/Senate+Judiciary+Committee+Approves+P2P+Crackdown+Bill> at 21 September 2008; Defective by Design, Stop the RIAA from using the Department of Justice to do its dirty work (19 September 2008) <http://www.defectivebydesign.org/stop-riaa-ip-enforcement-bill-s3325> at 21 September 2008; CNet, RIAA, MPAA resume lobbying push to expand copyright law (11 September 2008) <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10039238-38.html> at 12 September 2008; PC Magazine, Bill Asks Attorney General to Investigate Piracy (24 July 2008) <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2326397,00.asp> at 28 July 2008
[8] CNet News, Bush signs RIAA-backed intellectual-property law (13 October 2008)<http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10064527-38.html> at 15 October 2008; CNet News, Bush signs RIAA-backed intellectual-property law (13 October 2008)<http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10064527-38.html> at 15 October 2008; WashingtonPost/Reuters, Bush signs controversial anti-piracy law (13 October 2008) <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/13/AR2008101301551.html> at 15 October 2008
[9] Business Week, Senate passes intellectual property bill (26 September 2008) <http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D93EL7T00.htm> at 5 October 2008; Effector, House Passes Controversial PRO IP Act (8 May 2008) <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/05/house-passes-controversial-pro-ip-act> at 5 June 2008; ArsTechnica, House overwhelmingly passes controversial PRO-IP Act (8 May 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080508-house-overwhelmingly-passes-controversial-pro-ip-act.html> at 10 May 2008; InfoWorld, House panel kills controversial copyright provision (6 March 2008) <http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/06/House-panel-kills-controversial-copyright-provision_1.html> at 10 March 2008
[10] CNet News, Bush signs RIAA-backed intellectual-property law (13 October 2008)<http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10064527-38.html> at 15 October 2008
[11] CNet News, Bush signs RIAA-backed intellectual-property law (13 October 2008)<http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10064527-38.html> at 15 October 2008; ArsTechnica, Big Content gloats as Bush signs PRO-IP Act (14 October 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081014-bush-signs-pro-ip-act-big-content-gloats.html> at 15 October 2008; ArsTechnica, 750,000 lost jobs? The dodgy digits behind the war on piracy (7 October 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/dodgy-digits-behind-the-war-on-piracy.ars> at 10 October 2008; TechDirt, Commerce Dept Cites Bogus Stats, Chamber Of Commerce Uses Them To Ask Bush To Accept Copyright Czar (6 October 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081003/1946432453.shtml> at 10 October 2008
[12] TechDirt, Investors Recognizing How ProIP Is Bad For The Entertainment Industry (16 October 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081015/1703192553.shtml> at 18 October 2008; TechDirt, President Signs ProIP Bill Into Law; White House Gets Copyright Czar (14 October 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081013/2256222533.shtml> at 15 October 2008