U.S. President George W. Bush has signed an anti-piracy bill into law that will help companies protect their intellectual property (IP), like movies, software and music. He also created a new government intellectual property czar, who will serve as a high-level worker designed to be an "Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator" for the White House.
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) supported the bill and are happy it was signed into law. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also supported the bill, which has seen multiple modifications before being signed into law.
"By becoming law, the PRO-IP Act sends the message to IP criminals everywhere that the U.S. will go the extra mile to protect American innovation," U.S. Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Tom Donohue said.
Civil and criminal intellectual property laws will be tightened, along with stricter penalties on IP violators.
"At a time of financial and economic turmoil, streamlining the government's efforts to protect one of our most important assets -- intellectual property -- makes good economic sense," said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT.), who was the bill's sponsor.
The new law gives the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) and Justice Department more resources in their attempt to battle against piracy in the United States. The Justice Department is expected to create a new crime division specifically to enforce IP protection, although it is unknown when the division will be created.
Several organizations, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Public Knowledge, have paid close attention to the bill. Public Knowledge publicly said fair use rights for copyrighted material has already been declining over the years, and said that it would've "been nice to have something to benefit the public and artists instead of big media companies."
Before I read this, I'd like to start off by saying that I think George W. Bush is a complete moron with absolutely no business sense or even common sense. He will most likely go down in history as the worst American president.
[reading... reading...]
Uh huh. Okay. Well, I have to say that I think they *should* start cracking down on people who sell illegal CDs/DVDs on the street, in the stores, and at the flea markets. People invest big money to get a movie or an album made, and they aren't always hits. Same deal with games. Most games don't make a cent, just the big ones like the Halo franchise.
Should people who download via peer-to-peer get prosecuted because they want an album, game, or movie for free? No. Should a person who rips their CD so they can listen to it on their PMP be prosecuted? No. Worry about the big fish, not the little ones.
Just my two cents.
blame the wankers, who are middle men n women who hike the price to take thier cut. if the big companies charged a £5 er a game, piracy would be gone. cos increased sales would out weigh against piracy nuff said.
Well- this is nothing. I am really wondering WTF Bush will do on his way out the door! I guess we will find out in a few months.
I read a joke about little Billy Clinton saying he was so horny that he screwed the whole country, well Georgie W. has done it even worse............
I'm just happy Dion didn't get in up here.........
WTF nothing is made here PERIOD!!!!! Nothing high tech.. And if it is, it is made by foreigners so this law is not only very stupit but only shows how dumb USA has become.. Get this through your damn heads YOU DO NOT BUILD ANYTHING!!!! ASIA does .. TECH that is
pardon for my rant...but anytime I see IP stuff I just laugh my ass off!!!
Why don't they actually spend more time investing in the future of the country instead of sucking the dicks of corporations and wasting billions of dollars on PHONY wars ? That would make too much sense, of course.
The US government is too busy getting their cocks sucked by the corporate lobbyists (or the hookers they buy), taking bribes (campaign donations and swiss bank accounts), and selling out the future for your kids and grandkids, whilst polluting it beyond repair, destroying every freedom that might have remained, pissing off the rest of the world via greed and atrocity commitment, and waging war against the constitution... they simply don't have time for anything positive.
"Nothing hightech is made here period."
How can you say that? Yeah, we don't produce the latest consumer electronics, we don't design the latest greatest DVD players or media boxes (TVs... waste of time).
We excell in the sciences! We have some of the words most advanced labs, in every field. Just because Toshiba is based in Japan, doesn't mean they aren't using tech discovered in America. I just wish people weren't so greedy, or easily distracted. Imagine a world without such pointless distractions as TV? Imagine a world where most people LIKED math and strived to make a difference, instead of a profit?
But no, why don't we just sit back and watch the gladiators brawl. After all, fat and happy and all that.
Perhaps I was not clear enough.. We can make everything here except we don't want to!. You say sciences? WTF is this why all the hospitals use foreign doctors? Don't even get me started on that. It takes someone 5 years to become a doctor overseas.. It takes 20 years here. That is an education issue and a financial issue. If I was to tell you 20 years ago that most doctors in north America would be foreigners you would of said I was nuts. Sciences, all I see is asian, indian and many others applying for Scientic or medical courses..We have become a society of console addicts, the new generation can't do crap and you know it!! and that is what my point is how can you get a 12 year old who is still suckin on their mothers tits to start learning electronics or read medical books ??? Like I said we CAN build all we need. We need to learn how to build it first and not just ask the chinese to do it because it's cheaper that way. In the end they become smarter and we become DUMB!!
@ Coolios
"how can you get a 12 year old who is still suckin on their mothers tits to start learning electronics"
Make robots with tits. Simple.
LMFAO!!! Genious Duke!!
Sometimes I rant, but not after that comment lol
Keep in mind that Bush couldn't have signed this into law if congress didn't write and pass it. From other articles I read, the congressional approval was unanimous in the senate, and only 10 members of the house of representatives voted against it.
The moral: Always vote against the incumbent.
First off, I would like to qualify my proceeding statements. I do not like Bush. I voted for him but if I could take back my vote, I would in a heart beat. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't of voted for Kerry either.
With that said, I like how everyone implies like Bush single handedly passes every bit of legislation through his office. People, there are 3 branches of goverment: legislative, executive, and judicial. Guess who passes these laws through? Senate and House of Reprensentatives aka legislative branch which the Democrats now control both. The idiots in your state vote on this garbage and then the president oks it. If he vetos it, the Senate can overturn his veto with a 2/3 majority or 66%. You know, I saw something scary the other day. I was watching kids Jeopardy and the answer came up, "This amendment has Freedom of Speech in it." You know who answered the question? No one, zilch. Can you say I heard the crickets chirping, yes.
@Coolios
I would agree with you on the current generation of kids have several education issues. Most can't even tell you where Canada is. I went back to college a few years back and I thought that I would get wasted in English class by these kids coming straight out of High School. Well, it turned out to be, that most couldn't even spell or write a proper sentence. Needless to say, I got a straight A while the others were struggling with a C.
Now what I don't agree with is when you say we don't make anything here anymore. That is somewhat true with some industries. However, usually, the innovation is done in the US while applying or manufacturing that innovation is done in a country with cheaper labor and less restrictive labor laws.
On your foreign doctors working in hospitals, well here is the problem. Alot of hospitals are closing due to the influx of illegal immigrants. An illegal immigrant can go to any public, not private though, hospital and it is required by law to treat that person. Well, guess what, the illegal immigrant ends up not paying their bill and the taxpayer is left with the ticket. This is the fault of, rings bell twice, politicians again thank you very much. Also, another problem, foreigners come here to have their babies because the hospitals are the best around then leave and go back to their country of origin leaving the tax payer flipping the bill yet again. So, why do hospitals have foreign docters? Take a wild guess...
Its no secret that Mr Bush has been an advocate of the rich and powerful. You can call it what you like but piracy comes in many forms including over charging and conspiracy as with ESA and RIAA. In fact these companies should be brought up on RICO because of their racketeering activity. But putting this aside why is it that copyrights has nearly a limitless time frame while pharmaceuticals can go generic in only 7 years? I think the entertainment public should demand a change in policy. However as recent events prove to the little guys there is no bail out for us only those on Wall Street.
I hate Bush and wish he would have got impeached for all the scandals that have came out of the White House. Everyone should check out spp.gov as Bush has sold this country out and enslaved it's citizens. Security and Prosperity Partnership Of North America is The New! North American Union (NAU). U.S.A is down the tubes and, you ain't seen nothing yet more to come this is just the start.
@CJF1983
"spp.gov as Bush has sold this country out and enslaved it's citizens... U.S.A is down the tubes and, you ain't seen nothing yet more to come this is just the start.."
Ahhh come on now, that is just ridiculous. I think that you might of been reading or watching to many conspiracy movies. Next thing you know, you are going to say Bush did 9/11 and brought down the World Trade Center Towers with explosives, steered hurricane Katrina towards New Orleans, and single handily brought down the economy. Listen, he might be a bad president but damn give it a break already and stop watching Michael Moore movies.
@shaolin:
He's partially right. Bush did sell us out. So did his daddy. So did Clinton. So did the democrat-controlled congress. It's not just Bush or Replublicans or Democrats, it's politicians as a whole. They only care about power and money, not about the people they are supposed to represent. I voted for Bush too. I wouldn't take it back, even though he's proved to be a bad president...because that would have put Kerry in the job, which would have been even worse. However, I cannot stomach voting for either McCain or Obama. If everybody that feels this way would vote for a third party or independent (instead of saying awww, that's just voiting for the other guy), the two-party system would be history. McCain supports the pigopolists and wants to ban abortion. Obama will raise taxes and wants to eliminate the 2nd ammendment. I think anybody who would tamper with the Constitution or Bill of Rights should be brought up on treason charges. Punish those who use guns in an illegal manner. Let's see - criminals don't follow the laws, so if we make guns illegal criminals won't have them. Yeah, that's sound logic.
That brings me to your previous post re Kids Jeopardy (which I didn't know existed). That just proves what the current public education system is about. They don't WANT the kids to know about the Constitution and Bill Of Rights. That way when we've turned to dust, nobody will know people in the country ever had rights. Much easier to herd the sheeple that way. (Actually, it's not just this country. Pretty much around the world, though people are always bitching about us stupid merkans, governments are following our lead.) Big brother is watching.
@dentman42
"He's partially right. Bush did sell us out. So did his daddy. So did Clinton. So did the democrat-controlled congress"
True. I have always been an advocate of term limits for any office. Two years should be the maximum period for any office. Once those two years are up, you cannot run for that position ever again and must run for a higher or lower position. That way, new ideas and new blood are constantly circulating through our political system. Two years should be enough to do whatever you want to do. Also, I wouldn't want a grandfather clause either. The current politicians would have to fall under the same rule. People like Biden and McCain have been in the Senate for decades. This is really ridiculous and it really bothers me to see people cheerlead for their jersey so quickly and without question. This political season I am going to vote but it isn't going to be Obama or McCain. I will probably vote Nader or write my name in. I am sick of the two current party system dominating the scene. They have got comfortable and relish their position so much that they no longer serve the people but their own selfinterest.
" They don't WANT the kids to know about the Constitution and Bill Of Rights."
You got a point. The modus operandi of a dictatorship is control of information. When these pre teens are unable to answer what should be a simple answer, there is something very fundamentally wrong. It is very scary to see this when these kids are suppose to be smart to be on Jeopardy to begin with. Around where I live, the public education system is in a mess. I think I will either home school my child or send her to a private school. When I was taking Calculus 2 in college, I had two home schooled kids in there around 16-17 years old taking it for free for college credits. They were the head of the class and acing the tests.
And on a final note, it is funny how Liberals complain about our freedoms being took away by Bush or other politicians when they themselves shout down or even attack people that pose an opposing point of view to their own. Hmmm, it sounds paradoxial to me but they seem comfortable with it.
First, I would like to clear something up with shaolin007.
You wrote, "I went back to college a few years back and I thought that I would get wasted in English class by these kids coming straight out of High School. Well, it turned out to be, that most couldn't even spell or write a proper sentence. Needless to say, I got a straight A while the others were struggling with a C."
Response to Mr. Smart E. Pants: A lot is actually two words; not one. 
With that out of the way...
This Bill was not about the MAKERS of IP in other countries, (why would they pass a law they couldn't enforce?) but about the PIRACY of said IP. If you make infinite copies of any DVD or CD, etcetera, for yourself, you are not breaking any laws; as long as you aren't giving or selling them to anybody else. It is only when you are no longer making just "backup copies" that it becomes illegal. That is what the bill is about.
By the way, where do you see anything about doctors in there? Let's get back on topic, shall we?
-BigDaddy
.......I'm sorry, that should have said "Mrs.", not "Mr.."
shaolin007, I am not speaking doom and gloom it's reality man take a look at our country right now and you tell me. And for term limits we agreed on that already I want that myself and for your comments on both parties being too spoiled I would agree the system is currupt. We The People Of The United States Of America need to be the leaders and lead the leaders in a new direction.
I've always said, Bush is an idiot and so is Cheney.
@Bigdaddy
"Response to Mr. Smart E. Pants: A lot is actually two words; not one. "
Good for you, you get the gold star of the week! By the way, can't use a colon like that or even a semicolon. 
"By the way, where do you see anything about doctors in there? Let's get back on topic, shall we?"
Did you read my post or just skim over it? I was responding to what Coolios said.
@CJF1983
"I am not speaking doom and gloom it's reality man take a look at our country right "
Yea but you act like Bush is single handily doing the screwing when it it all those Washington politicians. Executive Branch cannot pass legislation bud. It only approves it. The Legislation branch is where the screwing begins. The president either veto's it or ok's it. It is all part of our Checks and Balances. Supposedly, when they both get out of control, that's when the Judicial Branch steps in and stops them both. But those guys are hand picked too so they are probably in on the "big screw" too! Don't get caught up in the, "Bush did every thing!" crowd. Politicians are experts at directing the blame somewhere else and Bush has a big bulls eye on his back now. He is an easy target and politicians know that he is unpopular right now. God, the Democrat's commercials are nothing but "He is with Bush blah blah blah..." because they know the their people will suck it right up!
I don't agree with you as everyone shares different views but what we can both agree on is term limits and a 3rd party. I would like to know what you think is the best 3rd party to represent us? The Green Party, Independent Party, etc what are your thoughts?.
@CJF1983
Personally, I think party's should be banned. I think they do more harm than good. Plus, you have all these idiots cheerleading for their jersey no matter how their representatives act. Think about it, how do these guys stay in office for decades? Something is very wrong with that. Our forefathers would turn in their grave if they knew the fodder being thrown around now.