[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 87 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. CON. RES. 87

   Expressing the sense of Congress that United States intellectual 
              property rights must be protected globally.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 5, 2006

     Mr. Biden (for himself and Mr. Smith) submitted the following 
   concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of Congress that United States intellectual 
              property rights must be protected globally.

Whereas the United States is the world's largest creator, producer, and exporter 
        of copyrighted materials;
Whereas this important sector of the United States economy continues to be at 
        great risk due to the widespread unauthorized reproduction, 
        distribution, and sale of copyrighted United States works, including 
        motion pictures, home video and television programming, music and sound 
        recordings, books, video games, and software;
Whereas estimates point to a rate of intellectual property piracy of between 70 
        to 90 percent in some countries, with annual losses to the United States 
        economy in the billions of dollars;
Whereas the major copyright industries are responsible for an estimated 6 
        percent of the Nation's total gross domestic product and an annual 
        employment rate of more than 3 percent;
Whereas strong overseas sales and exports by the major copyright industries are 
        even more important as the United States trade deficit continues to 
        increase, and as the United States economy grows more reliant on the 
        generation of intellectual property and in services related thereto;
Whereas the Congress is greatly concerned about the failure of some of the 
        trading partners of the United States to meet their international 
        obligations with respect to intellectual property protection;
Whereas in the Russian Federation, perpetrators of piracy, including one of the 
        largest commercial Internet pirates in the world, are permitted to 
        operate without meaningful hindrance from the Russian Government, and a 
        number of factories located on government property produce pirated 
        products;
Whereas the Russian Federation is now considering the adoption of a civil code 
        that would annul the country's existing intellectual property law, and 
        incorporate principles that do not conform to its international 
        obligations;
Whereas the Senate and the House of Representatives have both overwhelmingly 
        passed legislation expressing the sense of the Congress that the Russian 
        Federation must significantly improve the protection of intellectual 
        property as part of its effort to accede to the World Trade Organization 
        and to maintain eligibility in the generalized system of preferences 
        (GSP) program;
Whereas markets in the People's Republic of China are replete with pirated 
        versions of United States movies, sound recordings, business software, 
        and video games, resulting in over $2,000,000,000 in losses each year to 
        the United States economy;
Whereas the People's Republic of China has made a number of commitments to the 
        United States which it has yet to meet, including pledges to 
        significantly reduce piracy rates, increase criminal prosecutions of 
        intellectual property rights infringements, reduce exports of infringing 
        goods, improve national police coordination, and join global Internet 
        treaties;
Whereas the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation export 
        thousands of pirated versions of products of the United States to other 
        countries;
Whereas Mexico has a strong market for pirated goods, with thousands of street 
        vendors offering pirated products throughout the country;
Whereas Canada has become a source of camcorder piracy, has failed to bring its 
        copyright law into conformity with international standards, and has 
        failed to adequately prevent pirated products from other parts of the 
        world from entering the country;
Whereas India can further improve copyright protections, particularly with 
        regard to enforcement, deterrent sentencing, and coordination of 
        national efforts;
Whereas Malaysia continues to be a leading source of pirated entertainment 
        software and other copyrighted materials produced for export; and
Whereas steps must be taken to ensure that the rights of creators and 
        distributors are protected abroad and that creative industries in the 
        United States continue to flourish: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the United States should not complete any agreement 
        relating to the accession of the Russian Federation to the 
        World Trade Organization until the Russian Federation takes 
        concrete steps to address widespread intellectual property 
        violations, including--
                    (A) the closure and seizure of factories and 
                machinery used for piracy;
                    (B) imposition of meaningful penal sanctions;
                    (C) investigation and prosecution of organized 
                criminal piracy syndicates; and
                    (D) rejection of proposals that would undermine its 
                existing intellectual property rights regime and 
                retreat further from global standards;
            (2) the People's Republic of China should fundamentally 
        change its intellectual property rights enforcement model by 
        significantly increasing the application of criminal sanctions 
        against major copyright pirates and imposing effective 
        deterrent penalties;
            (3) Mexico, Canada, India, and Malaysia should work in 
        cooperation with the United States Government and industries in 
        the United States to address growing piracy problems within 
        their borders;
            (4) the failure of the countries listed in paragraph (3) to 
        act and protect against the theft of United States intellectual 
        property will have political and economic consequences with 
        regard to relations between these countries and the United 
        States; and
            (5) the President should use all effective remedies and 
        solutions to protect the intellectual property rights of United 
        States persons and entities, and maintain policies that 
        vigorously respond to the failure by other countries to abide 
        by international standards of protection or to otherwise 
        provide adequate and effective protection of intellectual 
        property as provided under United States law.
                                 <all>