Biden Pledges More Efforts Against Internet Piracy

(AP)

Vice President Joe Biden lauded Hollywood at a gala dinner in Washington on Tuesday evening, assailed movie piracy, and promised film executives that the Obama administration would pick "the right person" as its copyright czar.

Just days after four Pirate Bay defendants were found guilty in Sweden, Biden warned of the harms of piracy at a private event organized by the Motion Picture Association of America in the sumptuous, newly renovated Great Hall of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

"It's pure theft, stolen from the artists and quite frankly from the American people as consequence of loss of jobs and as a consequence of loss of income," Biden said, according to a White House pool report.

Biden blasted China, saying its intellectual property laws remain "largely ineffective" and will end up "strangling their own creative juices," and compared it to what he described as India's more effective anti-piracy regime. He singled out Canada, a close U.S. ally, as needing stronger laws; it never signed the treaty that led to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and a proposal to adopt anti-circumvention restrictions was never adopted.

He also addressed President Obama's forthcoming decision about who will be named the intellectual-property enforcement coordinator, better known as the copyright czar. Copyright industry lobbyists sent a letter Monday to the president asking him to pick someone sympathetic to their concerns, while groups that would curb copyright law sent their own letter urging the opposite approach.

We "will find the right person for intellectual property czar," Biden said.

Under a law approved by the U.S. Congress last October, Obama is required to appoint someone to coordinate the administration's IP enforcement efforts and prepare annual reports.

Senators attending the MPAA gala included Richard Durban (D-Illinois); Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.); Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.); Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota); Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont); Roger Wicker (R-Mississipi); and Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska).

An unspoken reason for the MPAA event -- which included a symposium earlier in the day with remarks from top House Democrats and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke -- was the loss of $246 million in tax breaks when the Senate revised the economic stimulus bill earlier this year. An MPAA report released Tuesday appears designed to avoid a repeat of that setback, listing the number of movies being filmed in each state.

Earlier in the day, Locke also talked up more government action against peer-to-peer piracy. "The recent revelation that an illegal copy of the upcoming movie 'Wolverine' had been posted on the Internet prior to its theatrical release underscores the problem the industry faces... As a former prosecutor, I believe in the full and impartial enforcement of the law," he said.

On copyright, President Obama has signaled a more pro-industry approach than his predecessor, which has alarmed advocates of less restrictive laws.

The president chose as top Justice Department officials the music industry attorney who pulled the plug on Grokster and another longtime Recording Industry Association of America ligitator. The Obama administration recently sided with the RIAA in a file-sharing suit, and Biden was a staunch RIAA and MPAA ally as a U.S. senator.

"I think sometimes you underestimate the impact you have, and not just entertaining but uplifting," Biden told the audience at the MPAA event. "I wish I could inspire the way you do."

[NOBSNEWZ]

oh well i will just wait until the movie or music comes out and will rip it from a friend or friends. So you really didn't stop anything you just made it a little harder that's all no biggie. LOL
Also when actors and musicians make millions of dollars even when there stuff is ripped off and then cry about it is pure greed FLAT OUT!
So no worries I will still get your stuff free so now what do you do?
Also it nice to see the government has time to stop something so stupid yet we have 2 WARS, OIL SPILL, Children hungry in the usa and all sorts of social problems yet they focus there effeorts to this stuff.
WASTE OF TAX DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also if the Immagration Department is doing this then why do I live in a state with a bunch of ILLEGAL IMMAGRANTS? Why not bust them and charge them a fine that would be more than what the movie industry and music industry are losing. Again oh well i will still rip anything i want since the technology is at my fingertips. SO TO THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AND MOVIE INDUSTRY.........YOU WILL NEVER STOP THIS SO DONT TRY!!!!!

[rf35]

Where can I download that copy of the Wolverine movie? I think piracy can be good for the motion picture industry. If I can preview a movie on the internet and it doesn't suck, I'd be more likely to pay to see it in a theater and later buy the pristine BluRay copy filled with special features.


Death to OPEC

[tomadams99]

Go get em Uncle Joe, you are such a tough guy...of course everyone is fearful now! At least you are not claiming to have invented the internet like one of your libbie buddies. You have to love the continued charade, and they do provide good comic relief for all. My difficulty is that while we watch the comic relief...it is what they are doing behind our back...in the stated era of transparency.

[hwy71so]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Oh, sorry, don't know what came over me.

You guys remember to vote for someone that's qualified in '10 and '12.

PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!

[bombadil4]

while it is true that the music and movie industries have often been rip-off scumbags themselves, intellectual property rights need to be better protected in some fashion. I know the kids are just delirious that they can find almost anything and everything for free, but in order to maintain good art, music, films, etc., it is important that there be a viable way for the creators to be compensated fairly. Otherwise, prepare yourselves for lots of American Idol reruns and crappy canned music.

[omega39-2009]

Better that their "czar" worry about protecting my personal data that is flowing through the fiber-optic cables without my knowledge or approval rather than fellating the RIAA and MPAA.

[specialty8]

Joe, Geithner , President Pelosi, VP Reid and now killer Kennedy is back in the picture with side kick Obungler spending billions for nothing to show for it but a bunch of new AIG millionaiers.

[rc55]

So when is this idiot gonna do something about the real internet pirates....THE CHINESE??? Or the physical ones in Somalia?
Yep...worry about the sleazebags in Hollywood not getting their money and arresting Joe citizen while letting our military and essential services data get in the hands of the Chinese!!! Who wants to bet this country is dead and worthless in 4 years. I got plenty of worthless paper I'll bet ya' with!! LOL

[inketolstoy]

Joe Biden to his Hollywood crowd, "I wish I could inspire the way you do."

So do I Joe, so do I.

[sleepyric]

Joe - while internet piracy is definitely a problem, right now we are more interested in how to defeat real pirates off Somolia...why aren't US ships being escorted?? At least escort them with drones or coast guard or something...get on it buddy...