A key senator vowed this week to keep a hold on controversial copyright legislation until lawmakers address his concerns, which include the possibility that the language would ban fast-forwarding through TV commercials. Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. McCain (R- Ariz.) is blocking passage of several bills combined by the Judiciary Committee last week for a Senate floor vote. In a Senate floor statement, McCain justified his hold by citing concerns from consumer and fair-use groups. The move reflects the latest of many struggles between McCain’s committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee on copyright issues.
The Dept. of Justice is taking enforcement of intellectual property (IP) laws seriously but could do more to ensure IP protection remains a high priority, the DoJ Task Force on Intellectual Property concluded. The task force released a lengthy report Tues. proposing increased DoJ resources for IP and examined copyright legislation on the Hill. Without endorsing or opposing any legislation, it opposed the aim of a fair use bill by House Internet Caucus Co-Chmn. Boucher (D-Va.) and supported efforts to target inducement of copyright infringement.
The Dept. of Justice is taking enforcement of intellectual property (IP) laws seriously but could do more to ensure IP protection remains a high priority, the DoJ Task Force on Intellectual Property concluded. The task force released a lengthy report Tues. proposing increased DoJ resources for IP and examined copyright legislation on the Hill. Without endorsing or opposing any legislation, it opposed the aim of a fair use bill by House Internet Caucus Co-Chmn. Boucher (D-Va.) and supported efforts to target inducement of copyright infringement.
At our deadline, congressional leaders continued trying to raise FCC fines for indecent content broadcast over public airwaves -- an effort delayed by a hold from at least one Democratic senator. Efforts to attach indecency provisions to the Defense Dept. Authorization Bill (HR-4200) failed late Thurs. Senate Armed Services Committee ranking Democrat Levin (Mich.) had refused to separate Sen. Dorgan’s (D-N.D.) media ownership provision and Sen. Hollings’ (D-S.C.) violence provision from Sen. Brownback’s (R-Kan.) amendment that would raise fines for indecency to $500,000 per utterance, with a $3 million maximum for each incident (CD Oct 8 p9). Fri., senators seeking to pass indecency legislation tried to bring to the Senate floor HR-3717, indecency legislation that passed the House this year. Senators amended HR-3717 to include a compromise between House Commerce Committee Chmn. Barton (R-Tex.), House Telecom Subcommittee Chmn. Upton (R-Mich.), Brownback and Ensign that would include: (1) Mitigating factors to be considered in setting indecency fines. (2) A 9-month “shot clock” for FCC action on indecency complaints. (3) A GAO study on indecency. (4) FCC report to Congress on indecency. (5) A sense of Congress statement that the NAB should establish a family viewing policy. The agreement doesn’t include the “3 strikes” rule, which would require the FCC to hold a license revocation hearing after 3 FCC indecency findings. Sen. Ensign (R-Nev.) opposed the “3 strikes” rule. Brownback, Ensign and Dorgan co-sponsored the bill in the Senate, which comes after family TV groups blamed Dorgan for “killing” the indecency fine on the DoD bill Thurs. night. Senate sources said Dorgan convinced Levin not to separate the indecency rules from Dorgan’s controversial media ownership provisions, which doomed the amendment. The Parents TV Council said early Fri. that despite the fact that Dorgan had been a “stalwart partner” in the fight against indecency, his “selfish actions” on media ownership had killed the bill. “He knew full well that this would kill any chance of the indecency provision being passed,” PTC Pres. Brent Bozell said. Senate sources said late Fri. a Democratic senator had placed a hold on the bill and Senate Minority Leader Daschle (D- S.D.) was working to have the hold released. Sources said Democrats didn’t want to be seen as having killed a broadcast decency bill weeks before a national election. Fri. afternoon, PTC issued a statement praising Dorgan and Ensign and said Democrats needed to make sure the bill was passed. “Senator Daschle and Senate Democrats need to uphold their responsibility to American families to ensure commonsense decency standards on public television,” Bozell said. But Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America said the failure of indecency legislation was the fault of the Republican leadership. “Republican leaders had every opportunity to deal with indecency either in conjunction with or separate from the issues of media ownership and TV violence and any effort to blame the sponsors of these amendments for the failure of the indecency bill are wholly without merit,” the groups said in a joint statement. Both favor media ownership controls proposed by Dorgan.
The Washington Trade Daily (WTD) has reported that the House of Representatives has passed the conference version of HR 4520, which would repeal the World Trade Organization (WTO)-illegal Foreign Sales Corporation/Extraterritorial Income Act (FSC/ETI). According to WTD, the Senate is expected to act on HR 4520 on October 8th or 9th. (See ITT's Online Archives or 10/08/04 news, 04100899 1, for BP summary of the Conference Committee's approval of HR 4520.) (WTD Pub 10/08/04, www.washingtontradedaily.com)
Bush Administration officials outlined the details of a new intellectual property initiative Mon. in response to recent calls for an increase in efforts against infringement. Attorney Gen. John Ashcroft, U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Zoellick, Commerce Secy. Don Evans and Dept. of Homeland Security Undersecy. Asa Hutchinson held a briefing for Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy (STOP), after which various groups expressed frustration with the problem of piracy and hailed the plan. STOP establishes an information hotline for businesses (1-866-999-HALT), as well as allowing rights holders to register their rights with the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection without first having to register a copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office. A joint release said the organizations will push for legislation to empower federal courts to issue injunctions against pirated goods in any U.S. jurisdiction -- courts currently may issue injunctions against potential violations only in their own jurisdictions. Calling the trade of illegally copied goods “a global problem,” David Hirschmann, Chamber of Commerce senior vp, said intellectual property theft has cost the U.S. 750,000 jobs. Claiming that 36% of all software was pirated last year, Business Software Alliance (BSA) Pres. Robert Holleyman made a strong plea for international enforcement, also saying U.S. economic and job strength are on the line and calling the initiative a “significant step forward.” Assn. for Competitive Technology (ACT) Pres. Jonathan Zuck said “Intellectual Property is the crown jewel of the American economy and the government must do everything possible to protect it abroad.” ACT, strongly supported by Microsoft and other major software firms, estimated that 7% of all international trade is pirated intellectual property.
Negotiators have reached an agreement on the indecency proposal attached to the Senate’s Defense Dept. authorization bill in conference, Senate sources said. The “3 strikes” rule is gone, sources said, but fines of up to $500,000 per incident remain, as does the authority for the FCC to fine individual artists up to $500,000 for obscene on-air remarks. Timelines for FCC action, annual FCC reports to Congress on indecency and a call for the NAB to reestablish a family viewing policy also remained in the amendment, which was pushed by Sen. Brownback (R- Kan.) on the Senate side. Senate sources said relevant House and Senate leaders were on board, including House Commerce Committee Chmn. Barton (R-Tex.), Committee ranking Democrat Dingell (Mich.) and Telecom Subcommittee Chmn. Upton (R-Mich.). Sources said provisions on media ownership from Sen. Dorgan (D-N.D.) and violence from Senate Commerce Committee ranking Democrat Hollings (S.C.) would be stripped from the bill. However, while sources said there was agreement, conferees have not voted on the issue. A Senate source said House leaders wouldn’t agree to a proposal that raised FCC indecency fines 10 times to $275,000, arguing that those fines were still too weak to deter large broadcasters. One House source said Clear Channel pushed Senate members to support only a fine increase and fought hard against the “3 strike” rule, which would let the FCC start license revocation hearings after 3 indecency violations. Sen. Ensign (R-Nev.) on Tues. took credit in a news release for negotiating the agreement. The Parents TV Council criticized Ensign on Tues. for asking Senate Armed Services Chmn. Warner (R- Va.) to support fine increases but remove other provisions from the amendment. Ensign said the amendment shouldn’t include controversial issues since it’s attached to the must-pass DoD Authorization bill. PTC said Ensign was trying to strip the decency provision and encouraged letters to him, Warner and other senators.
Experts described the implications of the upcoming presidential election on telecom and technology policy Tues. in the same stark differences that have generally defined the domestic policy divide between the candidates: President Bush favors market forces while Sen. Kerry (D- Mass.) sees a role for govt. Panelists at a Dittus Communications/CNBC discussion on the election focused on how these differences could affect issues such as broadband deployment, spectrum reallocation, tax credits and trade.
Several letters circulated in the Senate last week in opposition to a proposed compromise on legislation to raise fines for indecent broadcasts. Industry and Senate sources said Sen. Brownback (R-Kan.)-- sponsor of Senate indecency legislation (S-2056) -- House Telecom Subcommittee Chmn. Upton (R-Mich.) and House Commerce Committee ranking Democrat Dingell (Mich.) were close to an agreement. The House passed Upton’s decency bill HR- 3717, but the Senate moved a modified version of Brownback’s bill as part of Defense Dept. authorization legislation, which is now in conference. The DoD indecency amendment compromise included a $500,000 fine for each violation, FCC authority to fine performers, an FCC deadline on indecency complaints, and several provisions that would allow the FCC to take indecency into consideration when reviewing licenses, including an automatic license revocation hearing for 3 indecency infractions. Sources said Sen. Ensign (R-Nev.) had concerns over provisions that give the FCC more leeway in taking indecency into account when reviewing licenses. An industry source, who called some of the provisions “one- strike” rules, said such provisions would add uncertainty to valuable broadcast licenses. Ensign wrote Senate Armed Services Chmn. Warner (R-Va.) and ranking Democrat Levin (Mich.) asking him to remove the amendment from the DoD bill. Ensign said the indecency amendment, and issues connected with it like media ownership and violence, were “presenting an unfortunate distraction to the important work we need to complete to combat terrorism, provide for our homeland defense, and provide quality-of-life improvements for members of the Armed Forces.” Ensign didn’t address his concerns about license reviews and revocations, but did say if the conference addresses indecency, only a fine increase should be included. Sen. Breaux (D-La.) also wrote Warner, saying the issue was a distraction from DoD legislation. Breaux said the provision to allow artists to be fined would “have a chilling impact on the creative process of individual artists and the entertainment industry at large.” Sens. Allen (R-Va.), Cornyn (R-Tex.), Fitzgerald (R-Ill.), Sununu (R-N.H.), Burns (R-Mont.) and Smith (R-Ore.) wrote Warner to request that only fine increases be addressed in the DoD bill. If the amendment went further, it should be dropped from the bill, the senators wrote.
The office of Senate Majority Leader Frist (R-Tenn.) organized a staff-level meeting last week to build support for HR-1320, the spectrum relocation trust fund. It’s unclear whether resolution is in sight; a Senate source said agreement didn’t seem close. The bill passed the House last year but has stalled in the Senate. Industry sources said staff of the House Commerce Committee and Senate Budget Committee were among the participants. Appropriators raised concerns during House proceedings that the bill usurped their authority. The bill would create a trust fund from auction proceeds to move Defense Dept. users off the 1.7 GHz spectrum band, slated to be used for 3G services. Senate Appropriations Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) argues an emergency alert system, as well as E-911 funding, should be added to the legislation, sources said. CTIA and TIA strongly support passage of the legislation. “We've been working very hard on the Hill for the relocation legislation,” T-Mobile Vp Tom Sugrue said Fri. “That’s a big priority. Everything but one or 2 things are sort of lined up but sometimes you get late in the legislative year and it sort of doesn’t happen. It’s important to competition. The Defense Dept. is on board. The Administration is on board. It'd be a shame to let this opportunity pass.”