[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 414 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 414

   Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that foreign 
 governments should work diligently to legalize all computer software 
       used by such foreign governments, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 17, 2007

  Mr. Goodlatte (for himself and Mr. Schiff) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that foreign 
 governments should work diligently to legalize all computer software 
       used by such foreign governments, and for other purposes.

Whereas the United States copyright industries have created millions of high-
        skill, high-paying United States jobs and pay billions of dollars in 
        annual United States tax revenues;
Whereas copyright piracy results in billions of dollars in lost revenue for the 
        United States copyright industries each year and even greater losses to 
        the United States economy in terms of reduced job growth and exports;
Whereas the United States copyright industries face high rates of piracy in many 
        foreign countries, portions of which are attributable to unauthorized 
        software use by government agencies, as well as the use of official 
        government computers and networks to commit all types of copyright 
        infringement;
Whereas governments around the world are among the largest users of computer 
        software;
Whereas the public announcements and efforts of foreign governments to use only 
        authorized software, and to denounce the use of software in ways that 
        violate applicable copyright laws and treaties, can set important 
        examples for industries and citizens alike in those countries;
Whereas the public announcements and efforts of foreign governments to enact 
        policies designed to prohibit copyright infringement on their computers 
        and networks can set important examples for industries and citizens 
        alike in those countries;
Whereas official usage policies for computers and networks can be effective 
        tools to ensure that government computers and networks are not used to 
        facilitate infringement of copyrighted works, including software, 
        movies, music, games and other content;
Whereas the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, 
        and the Office of Management and Budget have all adopted policies 
        intended to prohibit government computers and networks from being used 
        to facilitate copyright infringement;
Whereas the United States Government, which is one of the world's largest 
        purchasers of computer-related services and equipment, stated in 
        Executive Order 13103 (1998) that ``[it] shall be the policy of the 
        United States Government that each executive agency shall work 
        diligently to prevent and combat computer software piracy in order to 
        give effect to copyrights associated with computer software'';
Whereas Executive Order 13103 also ordered that ``[e]ach agency shall establish 
        procedures to ensure that the agency has present on its computers and 
        uses only computer software not in violation of applicable copyright 
        laws'';
Whereas the United States Government has previously directed the United States 
        Trade Representative to work with other governments to reduce their 
        unauthorized use of software and to reduce their overall rates of 
        copyright piracy in general;
Whereas most foreign countries and territories have not yet undertaken measures 
        mandating the authorized use of software by government agencies, and 
        those that do mandate the use of authorized software by government 
        agencies often fail to implement these commitments;
Whereas most foreign countries and territories have not instituted usage 
        policies to prohibit the use of government computers and networks for 
        facilitating copyright infringement;
Whereas proper software asset management is critical to ensuring that government 
        agencies receive the full benefits of computer software and operate in 
        compliance with relevant copyright laws and international obligations; 
        and
Whereas the International Organization for Standardization recently issued a 
        standard--ISO/IEC 19770-1--for software asset management that can assist 
        organizations in implementing software asset management procedures that 
        are commensurate with rigorous corporate governance and information 
        security requirements: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,  That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) foreign governments should work diligently to legalize 
        all computer software used by government agencies in order to 
        give full effect to copyrights associated with computer 
        software, consistent with the applicable provisions of the 
        World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of 
        Intellectual Property Rights, the Berne Convention for the 
        Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, and the World 
        Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty;
            (2) foreign governments should require all government 
        agencies to adopt and implement appropriate procedures to 
        ensure that such agencies have present on their computers only 
        computer software that does not violate applicable copyright 
        laws, and that they do not acquire, reproduce, distribute, or 
        transmit computer software in violation of applicable copyright 
        laws;
            (3) foreign governments should require that contractors and 
        other recipients of government funds or financial assistance 
        have appropriate systems and controls in place to ensure that 
        government funds are not used to acquire, operate, or maintain 
        computer software in violation of applicable copyright laws;
            (4) foreign governments should enact usage policies 
        designed to ensure that government computers and networks are 
        not used to facilitate copyright infringement of any kind, 
        including infringement of software, movies, music, games, and 
        other content; and
            (5) foreign governments should lead by example and publicly 
        denounce the use of software in ways that violate applicable 
        copyright laws and treaties, and should publicly announce their 
        efforts to only use authorized software, as well as their 
        efforts to prohibit copyright piracy of any kind on their 
        computers and networks.
                                 <all>