Intellectual Property Protection Makes Headway Via Legal Efforts.

U.S. To Appoint Copyright Law Enforcement Officer

The $388 spending bill passed by the U.S. Congress in November includes a program that will allow the president to appoint a copyright law enforcement officer who will oversee the National Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordination Council (NIPLAC), as well as intellectual property (IP) law enforcement activities carried out by the Library of Congress, the U.S. Justice and State departments and the U.S. Trade Representative.

The legislation, for the first time, funds NIPLAC with $2 million. Created in the early 1990s, NIPLAC is charged with establishing policies, objectives and priorities designed to protect American intellectual property overseas and to coordinate and oversee implementation of intellectual property law enforcement throughout the government. It is anticipated that the appropriation will make NIPLAC more effective. Past performance of the council has been ineffective for the most part.

The legislation follows on the heels of recent activity undertaken by Attorney General John Ashcroft and a Justice Department task force that has cracked down on intellectual property crimes. The White House also set up the Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy program, which is designed to curb the production and importation of items ranging from fake purses to pirated CDs and DVDs.

Industry reports say that fair-use advocacy groups have expressed surprise at the amount of government money being spent on copyright enforcement, especially since it is tied to Hollywood and a large for-profit industry at a time when "every dollar is being counted" for education, health are and homeland security.

Music Industry Fights Piracy In Australia

While the U.S. government is appropriating monies to fight IP piracy, on the other side of the globe in Australia, a legal battle is under way between the major record labels and the peer-to-peer software provider Kazaa.