[IP] Copyright legislation explained at last?
Begin forwarded message:
From: "sbaker@xxxxxxxxxxx" <sbaker@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: October 21, 2004 9:36:45 AM EDT
To: "'dave@xxxxxxxxxx'" <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "Albertazzie, Sally" <SAlbertazzie@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Copyright legislation explained at last?
From Steptoe & Johnson's E-Commerce Law Week, Issue 323:
Maybe It's the Republicans Who Sing Versus the Ones Who Don't . . .
Where do Republicans stand on the question of expanded intellectual
property liability? Though the party dominates all three branches of
government, it's getting harder and harder to tell what Republicans
really think about aggressive enforcement of the laws that make Barbra
Streisand and Aaron Spelling rich. On the one hand, the Justice
Department, led by conservative John Ashcroft, has just written a
report on IP policy that goes deep into the tank for Hollywood, while
Majority Leader Frist and Judiciary Chairman Hatch joined their
Democratic counterparts in proposing S. 2560, yet another expansion of
third-party liability for IP violations. (Both Ashcroft and Hatch are
known for their singing and their songwriting, while Frist's home state
includes Nashville. Perhaps there's a pattern there?) On the other
hand, the legislation that all these Republicans joined to endorse
ended up being stalled, probably fatally, by a coalition of business
interests and the American Conservative Union, at the same time that
the Supreme Court refused to hear the RIAA's appeal of a decision over
file-sharing subpoenas. The singing might explain everything, if
Justice Scalia weren't such a notorious opera buff.
For more on the singing Republican conspiracy, see
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/ashpic1.html and
http://www.orrinhatchmusic.com/default.aspx.
To subscribe to E-Commerce Law Week, click here.
-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as roessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To manage your subscription, go to
http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/