U. S. Prepares to Crack Down On Intellectual- Property Piracy

By NEIL KING JR. for the Wall Street Journal Oct. 3, 2004

The Bush administration is expected to announce today a coordinated crackdown on the theft of U.S. intellectual property, such as pirated compact discs and knockoff auto parts, which U.S. officials say amounts to about 7% of global trade.

Called the Strategy Targeting Orgnized Piracy, or Stop, the effort consists of immediate steps to be taken by federal agencies, together with legal and administrative changes to be made in coming months.

The effort, nearly a year in the works, reflects a desire within the administration to strengthen the ability of U. S. companies to compete overseas at a time when the widening U.S. trade deficit continues to set records. Officials say that rampant piracy of copyrighted or patented U.S. goods, particularly in China, is depriving American companies of billions of dollars a year in revenue.

"This will be the most comprehensive effort ever launched to stop the trade in pirated goods," said one senior administration official, who provided details on the initiative. The official added that while "China is not the only problem, it is ground zero."

The initiative comes as the White House faces growing pressure from Congress and U.S. industry to get tough with China on counterfeiting. U.S. officials contend that after a series of negotia- tions over the past year, Beijing is at last beginning to take steps to improve its piracy record.

The announcement also comes as the presidential campaign shifts its attention to the economy from the war in Iraq. A crackdown on pirated goods would show the administration is ready to protect U.S. industry and is getting tough on trade.

The theft of brands, even down to similar packaging and company catalogs, has skyrocketed during recent years thanks to the ease of downloading information from the Internet. U.S. officials say the problem has begun to hit even small U.S. manufacturers and now goes beyond the usual trafficking in pirated movies and designer purses to include sales of substandard tools and parts under the stamp of well-known U.S. brands.

Attorney General John Ashcroft, Commerce Secretary Don Evans and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick plan to layout details of the initiative, along with senior officials from the De- partment of Homeland Security.

Under the effort, the U.S. will publish for the first time an annual "name and shame" list of foreign companies known to be producing or trafficking in fakes. The Justice Department, meanwhile, will conduct a large-scale effort to break up criminal organizations that U.S. officials say are involved in widespread sales of pirated products. And the administration plans to push for an overhaul of U.S. intellectual-property laws, with an emphasis on toughening criminal penalties for people convicted of piracy.

The Bureau of Customs and Border Protection plans to implement procedures this year, the official said, to allow the agency to track down companies that traffic in fake products. Some of the advances on this front are possible largely cause of enhanced cargo-tracking rules put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, the official said.

The Justice Department is also seeking changes that would allow U.S. District Courts to impose injunctions against the import of known fake products into ports nationwide. Existing rules allow courts to impose such injunctiom only for ports within their own jurisdiction.

The U.S. Trade Representative will begin to seek international agreements among other concerned countries to block trade in counterfeit products, including the possibility of seizures at sea and joint sting operations. As an example, the U.S. official described continuing, but so far unsuccessful, efforts in Japan, Europe and the U.S. to shut down a Chinese company that is exporting supposedly shatterproof, brand-name car windshields that explode on impact.

Largely to give small U.S. companies a leg up, the U.S. Patent Office will open a hot line, 1-866-999-HALT, to help businesses register their patents and trademarks around the world and to instruct them on lodging complaints.

Oh, if they would only go after the real pirates...what a wonderful world it would be. And a hotline!! I'm sooo impressed.

I support anti-bootlegging. I support copyright infringement for personal use is fair use.

So who are the 20 million people this is supposed to galvanize? Chinese smugglers?

Cisco learned it's lesson the hardway, when a chinese company started selling knockoffs of Cisco's products in the EU. The software code even had the same bugs as Cisco's. Another undocumented cost of outsourcing.

Now that China is in the WTO, it needs to crack down on this type of behavior, or else they should face tarrifs.

Of course when companies outsource, mabey this type of screwing is what they deserve.

LMAO, no one has the stones to mess with China, no one.

So wait...We're forming a committee to enforce OUR laws in China?
Seems kind of odd.

And why is it that I would face more criminal time for burning a CD than I would for stealing 3 of the same CD?
It just doesn't make sense.

Now if it were just a matter of cracking down on CD / DVD / software counterfeiting rings, that'd be one thing. But unfortunately, it seems such a strategy is most likely to be in COMBINATION with this conspiracy among the alphabet lobbies and their stooges in Congress et al., to usurp and destroy whatever "fair use" rights we have left.

Perhaps this will galvanize the 60 million americans that log on to file sharing networks. They can go out and vote for a president with a brain.

Piracy of these things was, percentwise, at the same level in 1999 as it is today. And business was booming in '99. Laws are designed to protect the people; what are the people being protected from in this case?

Perhaps this would be a good time to point out that the trade deficit began when President Bush's economic policies came into effect. Gee, 4 weeks from election day, the president is trying to divert attention from a problem that rose from his administration.

What? Too many people asking that uncomfortable question of why they aren't going after the real pirates? No good answers?

Lols, day late and a dollar short (or is that 40 cents short in todays inflation rates?).

My analysis is this initiative has a very intense outward focus on REAL foreign, for profit counterfeitting rings. I see no problem with it over all, so long as it is not used as a vehicle to imprison 20% of the population.

Deeper analysis..

I read the entire article.. i didnt see "online piracy" or quaint euphamisms such as "peer to peer piracy". Until i see them trying to use this as a means of lumping p2p users in with fake goods rings, i see no problem here.

In fact, the only mention of the internet at all is the ease with which information on brands and trademarks can be easily obtained for trademark violation, such as pulling cover scans or large pictures of packages off sites.

The same paragraph off handedly mentions illegal music and movies, but does not directly state they were from the internet, and treats it as a minor concern, instead focusing on large scale foreign counterfeitting.

"And the administration plans to push for an overhaul of U.S. intellectual-property laws, with an emphasis on toughening criminal penalties for people convicted of piracy. "

this statement concerns me... PDEA has enough grease to pass on its own, but incorporating its provisions into a bill designed to crack down on REAL pirates could stifle all questions about imprisoning the estimated 20% of the population who are filesharers.

SO LONG AS THIS REMAINS FOCUSED ON HOW IT WAS ANNOUNCED, I actually applaud this new focus on pursuing proper compensation for unlicensed commercial infringement.

P.S.
If i'm not mistaken.. penalties for commercial pirates are already nearly as harsh as those for armed robbers. I sincerely hope these "new measures" are constitutional.

Look...this government is so full of Shyte that I am surprised weeds are not growing the rug in the oval office (or, judging who occupies that room, it should be called the "oval orifice".

Real piracy, i.e. robbery and murder on the high seas exists, and is evil, and something should be done about it.

It just shows the completely obscene nature of the toadies running the government, when they DECLARE copyright infringement as "piracy" and make it a priority.

To me, this adminstration is giving the American public the finger in no uncertain terms. They don't give a shyte that 45 million have NO healthcare insurance...they don't give a shyte that around a thousand familes are minus a loved one here in the USA, they don't give a shyte that we have gone from a pre-Bush giant surplus, to the biggest deficit in living memory, and that they are raiding the Social Security system (despite promises not to do that)...what do they put as a priority?

Some whining, moneygrubbing spineless anal orifices like Cary Sue, Bitch Mainhole, and the a-holes at the MPAA and the scum...yes, I said S C U M at the BSA are able to set the priorities and agenda of the federal government that WE fund, without the input of 60 million digital consumers, taxpayers , and voters.

Does it sound like this makes me mad? Damn right it does, and every voter and taxpayer that does not derive their income from ripping off their fellow ciitzens by being purveyors of overpriced movies, overpriced software, and overpriced, crappy tunes, should be mad as well.

I say, down with the Parasites like the MPAA, the BSA, and the RIAA and the toadies who do their bidding.

Two-four-six-eight---who do we appreciate----CodeWarrior, CodeWarrior, yeah tell it like it is!!!!!!

On a more serious note, Code, you're dead right. I get so pissed when I see what this bunch is doing in Washington, I could just scream. They either make me so mad I walk around the house talking to myself and gesticulating wildly, or I get so depressed I have to sit in the corner and listen to Dylan and Buffalo Springfield, Country Joe and Scott McKenzie.... But mostly they make me so mad fire comes out my nostrils and smoke shoots out of my ears, and I use such language my daughter covers her ears....We've come full circle, I think, and the same people we kicked out in the 60s are back again. If I could figure out where they grow those bastards, I'd go and destroy the whole crop. Problem is, they seem to keep moving the damn garden....

If they really did want to crack down a bit on the SALE of counterfeit goods, I would be not opposed in the least. I don't think many of us here think it is ok to sell bootleg CD's. The RIAA doesn't really give a hoot about such REAL copyright infringement as described in the article... The RIAA hates fair use and p2p because it gives non-RIAA music a chance to compete.