[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 106 (Thursday, July 17, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1496]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF THE AUTHOR, CONSUMER, AND COPYRIGHT OWNER PROTECTION 
                        AND SECURITY ACT OF 2003

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 16, 2003

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce the introduction 
of the ``Author, Consumer, and Copyright Owner Protection and Security 
Act of 2003.'' I am introducing this bill with my colleagues Reps. 
Howard Berman (D-CA), Martin T. Meehan (D-MA), Robert Wexler (D-FL), 
Anthony Weiner (D-NY), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) to address the growing 
problem that has been created by the theft of digital content.
  As we all know, the copyright industries (music, movies, books, and 
software, just to name a few) are this country's crown jewel. They are 
the only sector of the American economy that has provided a positive 
trade balance; according to ``Copyright Industries in the U.S. Economy: 
The 2002 Report'' by the International Intellectual Property Alliance, 
these industries achieved foreign sales and exports of $88.97 billion. 
It goes without saying that our content is a valuable resource.
  Unfortunately, the same technologies that have enhanced our lives and 
globalized trade also have made it possible to obtain digital content 
for free. Those who invest so much into developing software, books, 
music, and movies and rely upon sales of that content are being 
deprived of their livelihoods because people are taking advantage of 
the Internet to obtain and share digital content for free. The same 
technology that enhanced the lives of so many is harming the lives of 
people whose work we value so much.
  While there are laws on the books that protect copyrighted content 
from theft, they do not go quite far enough. Despite court decisions 
ordering various file swapping sites to shut down, new file-swapping 
programs and new file-swapping sites appear every day on the Internet, 
each one better than its predecessor. These sites do not develop their 
own content; instead, they rely upon the success and popularity of 
content created by others and allow that content to be distributed to 
millions with the single click of a mouse. These sites also create 
security and privacy risks, in that they open up entire the hard drives 
average consumers for the world to see, financial and personal 
information included.
  That is why we have introduced this legislation. Modest in approach, 
the bill proposes several initiatives that would give consumers, law 
enforcement, and content creators control over how their computers and 
their content are being used. Below is a section-by-section analysis of 
the bill that explains its various provisions:

  Section-by-Section Analysis of the ``Author, Consumer, and Computer 
              Owner Protection and Security Act of 2003''


            title I: increased domestic enforcement efforts

       SEC. 101. AUTHORIZED APPROPRIATIONS. Authorizes the 
     appropriation of not less than $15 million for criminal 
     copyright enforcement for fiscal year 2004.
       SEC. 102. NATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW ENFORCEMENT 
     COORDINATION COUNCIL. Requires NIPLECC to develop guidelines 
     to ensure that its component members share amongst themselves 
     law enforcement information related to infringement of U.S. 
     copyrighted works.
       SEC. 103. INCREASED CRIMINAL COPYRIGHT REPORTS. Requires 
     the Attorney General to submit biannual, instead of annual, 
     reports on criminal copyright cases.


         title II: increased international enforcement efforts

       SECTION 201. INFORMATION SHARING. Requires the Attorney 
     General to provide to a foreign authority evidence to assist 
     such authority--(1) in determining whether a person has 
     violated any of the copyright laws administered or enforced 
     by the foreign authority, or (2) in enforcing such foreign 
     copyright laws. Information to be provided includes: evidence 
     obtained pursuant to criminal complaints or to investigations 
     of violations of sections 2318, 2319, 2319A, and 2320 of 
     title 17, United States Code that explains, analyzes, or 
     describes (1) the nature of the violation; (2) the 
     technological means through which violation of the copyright 
     law has occurred; (3) the identity and location of the person 
     who has committed such violation; and (4) the estimated 
     financial loss caused by the violation. Excludes from 
     disclosure any grand jury or national security information.


                      title III: anti-piracy tools

       SEC. 301. Clarifies that the uploading of a single 
     copyrighted work to a publicly accessible computer network 
     meets the 10 copy, $2,500 threshold for felonious copyright 
     infringement.
       SEC. 302. Requires online distributors of file-swapping 
     software to give conspicuous notice to, and receive specific 
     consent from, the downloader of that software if such 
     software enables third parties to use the downloader's 
     computer as a supernode or to store data, or if such software 
     creates security or privacy risks.
       SEC. 303. FRAUDULENT DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION (H.R. 4640 
     from 107th): Makes it a Federal criminal offense to knowingly 
     and with intent to defraud provide material and misleading 
     false contact information to a domain name registrar, domain 
     name registry, or other domain name registration authority in 
     registering a domain name. The penalty is a fine, 
     imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or both.
       SEC. 304. Makes it a Federal criminal offense to, without 
     authorization, camcord a movie in a theater.
       SEC. 305. Directs courts to consider the knowing and 
     intentional provision of material and misleading false 
     contact information to a domain name registrar, domain name 
     registry, or other domain name registration authority in 
     registering a domain name as evidence of willfulness with 
     regard to copyright infringements committed by the domain 
     name registrant through the use of that domain name.

  I hope to work with my colleagues and interested parties on this 
legislation as we move forward on this important issue.

                          ____________________