Category Enforcement

US Lawmakers Seek IP Enforcement Agency; Satellite Radio Royalties Set

By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch
A bipartisan group of US legislators is calling for tougher civil and criminal penalties for copyright and trademark infringement through new legislation introduced last week. Meanwhile, the US Library of Congress Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has set royalties for satellite radio services, as webcast radio companies lobbied for rate parity.

The "Prioritising Resources and Organisation for Intellectual Property Act of 2007 (PRO IP)," introduced 5 December, would create an IP enforcement czar, establish a new IP division in the Department of Justice, and authorise the appointment of IP officers to help foreign countries combat piracy and counterfeiting.

France’s Online Anti-Piracy Plan Comes Under Scrutiny

By Bruce Gain for Intellectual Property Watch
Legal experts and consumer rights groups are questioning the feasibility of measures described in an anti-piracy pact that French media groups, government officials, and Internet service providers (ISPs) announced on 23 November.

ISPs also dispute the veracity of media reports that have since claimed that access providers will begin to actively monitor and block peer-to-peer file exchanges in France.

The anti-piracy agreement describes a number of possible measures that could prevent illegal distribution of copyright-protected digital media in France.

Members Seek To Raise TRIPs Amendments In WTO Negotiations

By William New World Trade Organization members seeking changes to international rules on trade and intellectual property rights moved this week to include the debate on their proposals in an upcoming deadline for the broader trade negotiations at the WTO.…

Film Industry Touts ISP Partners In Filtering Online Content

By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch
NEW YORK - Internet service providers are going to lead the monitoring of networks to ensure they are not being used for infringing purposes in the entertainment industry's seemingly endless battle to maintain control over where their content is distributed, and to whom, Motion Picture Association of America Chairman Dan Glickman said Tuesday.

Glickman, speaking at the 35th Annual UBS Global Media & Communications Conference on 5 December, said his organisation - which represents the motion picture, home video and television industries - is working with telephone, cable and Internet companies, most notably AT&T, to ensure their networks are not being used to illegally share or download content. The relationship is somewhat ironic given the entertainment industry's rocky history with the ISP community and its previous efforts to force telecommunications companies like Verizon to reveal the identities of customers who infringe copyrights on peer-to-peer filing systems.