Senate Approves Copyright Bill |
11/20. The Senate amended and approved by unanimous consent
S 3021, the
"Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2004" on Saturday, November 20,
2004. The House has yet to approve this large composite bill.
This bill was just introduced on November 20 by
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT). However, it is
a composite bill made up mostly of language from bills that have already been the subject
of committee hearings, markups, House approval, and/or Senate approval. Also, a
pre-introduction draft of this bill was the subject of the story titled "Senate
May Consider Intellectual Property Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,022,
November, 19, 2004.
Also, on October 9, 2004, the Senate
Judiciary Committee approved a package of copyright bills. That bill, numbered
HR 2391, is also a composite bill. It is titled the "Intellectual Property
Protection Act of 2004", or IPPA. See,
text of bill
[44 pages in PDF], and
text of bill,
in HTML, with hyperlinked table of contents, and U.S. Code hyperlinks. See also,
story
titled "Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Large Collection of Copyright Bills"
in TLJ Daily E-Mail
Alert No. 994, October 11, 2004. S 3021 adds some provisions to the IPPA,
and removes some provisions from the IPPA.
Note that HR 2391, as enacted by the House, is a patent bill. The Senate
Judiciary Committee made the content of HR 2391 EH a part of the IPPA, and gave
the whole IPPA its number.
Title I: ART Act. Title I of S 3021, as amended, is titled the
"Artists' Rights and Theft Prevention Act of 2004", or "ART Act".
It is a revised version of
S 1932,
which the full Senate approved as a stand alone bill on June 25, 2004.
This title includes, among other provisions,
criminalization of certain unauthorized recording of motion pictures in a motion
picture exhibition facility.
§ 208
of the IPPA, and § 108 of
HR 4077,
the "Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2004", which the House approved on
September 28, 2004, contain similar language. It criminalizes using camcorders
to copy movies in motion picture exhibition facilities, such as movie theaters.
Title I also gives movie theater owners limited immunity for detaining violators.
Title I also requires the Register of Copyrights to "establish procedures for
preregistration of a work that is being prepared for commercial distribution and
has not been published ... for any work that is in a class of works that the
Register determines has had a history of infringement prior to authorized
commercial distribution". It also provides that infringement actions may be
based upon these preregistrations.
Title II: Family Movie Act. Title II of S 3021 is titled the
"Family Movie Act", but is also known as the ClearPlay bill.
§ 212 of the IPPA (§ 112 of HR 4007 EH) contains another
version of the "Family Movie Act". This provision, which is included with
the ClearPlay technology in mind, adds a new ¶ 11 to
17 U.S.C. § 110 (which provides exceptions to the exclusive rights of copyright).
S 3021 contains a content skipping exception: "the making imperceptible,
by or at the direction of a member of a private household, of limited portions
of audio or video content of a motion picture, during a performance in or
transmitted to that household for private home viewing, from an authorized copy
of the motion picture, or the creation or provision of a computer program or
other technology that enables such making imperceptible and that is designed and
marketed for such use at the direction of a member of a private household, if no
fixed copy of the altered version of the motion picture is created by such
computer program or other technology".
S 3021 does not include the IPPA's language regarding ad skipping. That
is, the IPPA provided that the new exception applies only if "no
changes, deletions or additions are made by such computer program or other
technology to commercial advertisements, or to network or station promotional
announcements, that would otherwise be performed or displayed before, during or
after the performance of the motion picture".
In other words, under the bill as approved by the Senate, ClearPlay and other
companies can market products that skip violent or obscene content, and ads, in
movies.
The movie industry opposes the "Family Movie Act".
In contrast, Gigi Sohn, of Public
Knowledge, stated in a
release after Senate passage that "We strongly support the version
of the Family Movie Act, included in the bill, which gives families more control
over how they watch movies and television, preserving the right to skip over
commercials. The bill will benefit consumers, both in their entertainment
choices now, and from the innovation in technology that will result in coming
years."
See also, story titled "House CIIP Subcommittee Holds Hearing on DVD
Filtering Technology" in
TLJ Daily E-Mail
Alert No. 903, November 21, 2004.
Title III: Film Preservation. Title III of S 3021 includes the
"National Film Preservation Act of 2004" and the "National Film
Preservation Foundation Reauthorization Act of 2004". Both of these are in the
IPPA.
Sen. Hatch (at right)
spoke in the Senate on November 20. He stated that "These entities have worked
successfully to recognize and preserve historically or culturally significant films
-- often by providing the grants and expertise that enable local historical societies
to protect and preserve historically significant films for the local communities for
which they are most important. This fine work will ensure that the history of the 20th
century will be preserved and available to future generations." See, Congressional
Record, November 20, 2004, at Pages S11692-5,
Title IV. Title IV of S 3021 is the "Preservation
of Orphan Works Act". This too is in the IPPA.
The entire substance of this title is as follows: "Section 108(i) of title
17, United States Code, is amended by striking ``(b) and (c)´´ and inserting
``(b), (c), and (h)´´." See,
17 U.S.C. § 108.
Sen. Hatch explained that this "ensures the preservation of valuable historic
records by correcting a technical error that unnecessarily narrows a limitation on the
copyright law applicable to librarians and archivists. This will strengthen the
ability of librarians and archivists to better meet the needs of both
researchers and ordinary individuals and will result in greater accessibility of
important works."
Title V, Subtitle A: Anticounterfeiting Act. Title V of
S 3021 includes a Subtitle A, titled the "Anticounterfeiting Act of
2004", and a Subtitle B, titled the "Fraudulent Online Identity Sanctions
Act".
Sen. Hatch stated that the Anticounterfeiting Act of 2004 "amends our
criminal and civil anti-counterfeiting laws to ensure that these laws keep pace
with the counterfeiters. Traffic in counterfeit copies of goods protected by
American copyrights, patents or trademarks has become a multi-billion dollar
drain on our economy. The proceeds of this illegal traffic are stolen from
legitimate American companies and then used to fund other criminal enterprises.
Unlike several of the other bills in this package that provide tools for
combating music and movie piracy, the Anticounterfeiting Act is directed
primarily toward combating counterfeiting practices that enable software piracy
around the world."
He continued that "To combat this counterfeiting, companies are using
increasingly sophisticated authentication features to distinguish genuine,
authorized copies of their products and to protect their customers and
distributors. Now, the counterfeiters are fighting back by counterfeiting
authentication features or by stealing legally produced authentication features
and selling them to counterfeiters. The Anticounterfeiting Act of 2004 will
impose criminal and civil penalties upon those who traffic in counterfeit or
stolen authentication features. This will ensure that law-enforcement agencies
and private rights-holders can halt criminal traffic in counterfeit or stolen
authentication features before it even creates an illusion of authenticity that
allows counterfeit goods to penetrate legitimate markets and endanger both the
growth of our economy and the personal safety of our citizens."
Related bills have been introduced in the House and Senate in this Congress
and the 107th Congress. See, for example,
S 2227, the
"Anticounterfeiting Act of 2004", and story titled "Sen. Biden Introduces
Anticounterfeiting Bill" in
TLJ Daily E-Mail
Alert No. 866, March 30, 2004.
Title V, Subtitle B: Domain Name Fraud. Subtitle B, the "Fraudulent
Online Identity Sanctions Act", is very similar to
HR 3754, a
stand alone bill with the same name, that was approved on May 12, 2004, by the
House Judiciary Committee. See,
story titled "House Judiciary Committee Approves Domain Name Fraud Bill" in
TLJ Daily E-Mail
Alert No. 897, May 13, 2004.
This subtitle addresses the registration of domain names with false
information. Law enforcement authorities use the Whois database to identify and
locate people who use web sites to commit crimes. False registration information
makes identifying the fraud artists more difficult. False registration
information also makes it harder for trademark holders to pursue cybersquatters,
for copyrights holders to locate online infringers, and for manufacturers to
locate online sellers of counterfeit goods.
Title VI: CREATE Act. Title VI is the "Cooperative Research
and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) Act of 2004". This is HR 2391, which has
been approved by the House, and
S 2192,
which has been approved by the Senate. The language of these bills is also in
the IPPA.
This is a patent provision, intended to promote collaborative research. The
CREATE Act amends Section 103(c) of the Patent Act, which is codified at
35 U.S.C. § 103, to
address the August 8, 1997
opinion of
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit in OddzOn Products, Inc. v. Just Toys, Inc., which ruled that
derived prior art may serve as evidence of obviousness.
Section 103(c) currently provides a safe harbor for inventions that are the
product of collaboration involving co-inventors within a single company.
However, scientific research is increasingly being conducted jointly by multiple
companies, universities, government labs, and/or other entities.
The holding in the OddsOn case threatens to discourage collaborative
research, where the scientists involved are not employed by the same company or
entity. Basically, the Court interpreted Section 103(c) to mean that prior art
under Sections 102(f) or 102(g) could be used to determine the obviousness of an
invention where there is no common ownership or assignment of the invention and
information being shared among the collaborators, and the information exchanged
is not publicly known. The bill amends Section 103 to provide that patentability
is not precluded in the case of research conducted across entities pursuant to a
joint research agreement.
See also,
story
titled "House Passes CREATE Act" in
TLJ Daily E-Mail
Alert No. 854, March 11, 2004.
Title VII: Professional Boxing. One more title was added to S 3021
after the draft was circulated last week. It is the "Professional Boxing
Amendments Act of 2004''. This lengthy title has nothing to do with intellectual
property, or any of the other subject matter of S 3021, the "Family
Entertainment" bill.
What is Not in S 3021. Many copyright related bills that have been
considered in the 108th Congress, some of which have been approved by committees
or by the House or the Senate, are not in S 3021.
Two of the titles of the IPPA
are not in S 3021. It does not include
Title III of the IPPA, titled the "Protecting Intellectual Rights Against
Theft and Expropriation Act of 2004", or "PIRATE Act".
The PIRATE Act would authorize the Department of
Justice (DOJ) to bring civil actions for copyright infringement for conduct that
already constitutes criminal copyright infringement under
17 U.S.C. § 506.
This would accomplish two things. It would make it easier to prevail, because,
among other things, the civil action would have a lower burden of proof. It would
also provide a less punitive action for youthful P2P music pirates. This is
§ 302
of the IPPA. This provision would not make any conduct illegal that is not
already illegal. Nevertheless, some of the groups that oppose effective
protection of copyrights adamantly oppose this provision.
Also, S 3021 does not include
Title VI of the IPPA, titled the "Enhancing Federal Obscenity
Reporting and Copyright Enforcement Act of 2004", also known as the "EnFORCE
Act". This is
S 1933.
Also, there are many other intellectual property bills that that are not in
S 3021. For example, it does not include S 2560, the "Inducing
Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004", a bill that responds to the opinions of
the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals (9thCir) in MGM v. Grokster.
It would create a new cause of action for "intentional inducement of infringement".
S 3021 does not include
HR 107,
the "Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act of 2003",
Rep. Rick Boucher's (D-VA)
bill. Nor does it include
HR 3261, the "Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act",
or HR 3872,
the "Consumer Access to Information Act of 2004",
bills related to databases.
Gigi Sohn of Public Knowledge stated that "Consumers won a major victory when
the Senate passed legislation removing the most egregious elements of the
omnibus copyright bill that had previously been under consideration." She added
that the Senate "wisely removed the PIRATE Act, which would have made the
government the entertainment industry’s private law firm at taxpayer expense."
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FCC Releases Study on Cable and Satellite A
La Carte Pricing |
11/19. The Federal Communications Commission's
(FCC) Media Bureau (MB) released a
study
[217 pages in PDF] titled "Report On the Packaging and Sale of Video Programming
Services To the Public". It examines the possibility of satellite and cable companies
providing a la carte and themed tier services.
The FCC prepared this study in response to requests from senior members of the
House and Senate Commerce Committees. Before writing this study, the MB sought
and reviewed public comments.
The study concludes that "Although the Commission shares the
public’s concern about rising MVPD rates and the growing coarseness of
programming on television and strongly believes in providing the public with
greater choice in how they consume television, the Report finds that many of the
harms suggested by opponents of a la carte or themed-tier services have merit,
although not necessarily to the degree advocated by its most vocal critics. The
Report concludes that a la carte regulation will likely increase operational
expenses for MVPDs in three main areas: (1) equipment and infrastructure; (2)
customer service operations; and (3) billing and back office support. Unless
constrained by regulation, many of these increased costs would likely be passed
on to subscribers, resulting in higher subscriber fees. In addition, the MVPD
cost increases would be most detrimental to smaller cable operators, who often
have more limited and more costly options when it comes to obtaining capital to
support investment in their operations. The Report discusses how this would have
an adverse impact on competition as smaller cable operators would have a
difficult time competing with the industry’s primary competitors-the DBS
providers."
It also finds "legitimacy to programmers’ concerns about an a la
carte regime. Existing networks sold on an a la carte basis spend a significant
amount of their revenue marketing themselves to consumers. Under an a la carte
mandate, networks formerly sold in tiers would need to significantly increase
their marketing expenses to induce consumers to affirmatively select the
network. Moreover, any type of a la carte requirement would have a significant
negative effect on a program network’s advertising revenues and license fee
structure. The loss of cost savings, combined with the loss in advertising
revenue and the likely rise in license fees to compensate such losses, may cause
many program networks to fail, thus adversely affecting diversity."
Also, it finds that "it is unclear that an a la carte regime would produce
the desired result of lower MVPD prices for many pay-television households. The
Report's economic analysis estimates that the impact on retail rates of pure or
mandatory a la carte sales indicates that only those consumers who would
purchase fewer than 9 program networks may see a reduction in their monthly
cable bill."
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the
current Chairman of the Senate Commerce
Committee, stated in a release that "I am disappointed in
what appears to be a paucity of discussion on the effect of cable and satellite
companies offering an a la carte pricing option to consumers in addition to
existing pricing options. Instead, it appears the industry has been successful
once again in distracting policy makers with a ``parade of horribles´´ that they
allege would result from a mandatory a la carte offering. Unfortunately, this
creates a fog that obscures the reality that allowing consumers to purchase
individual channels would give consumers more control over their cable and
satellite bills, particularly for those consumers who watch only a few
channels."
Sen. McCain (at right)
added that "On behalf of consumers, I will continue working to provide them with
more choices and lower prices in the pay television market, whether it be through
advocating a voluntary a la carte option or promoting greater competition in the pay
television market."
FCC Chairman Michael Powell
stated in a
release
that "We remain committed to our long-standing policy goals of
making communications and media technologies available to all Americans at
affordable rates and fostering diversity in our nation's media. Many Americans
are frustrated with year after year increases in their pay-television bills and
we will continue to address those concerns through the recommendations provided
in this report and other avenues available to the Commission."
Robert Sachs, P/CEO of the National Cable &
Telecommunications Association (NCTA), stated in a
release
that "The FCC report to Congress makes clear that government-mandated
per-channel pricing would not offer any benefits to the vast majority of
consumers and would in fact result in higher prices, fewer choices and less
diversity in programming. The FCC's report confirms the October 2003 conclusions
of the government's General Accountability Office (GAO), and a July 2004 NCTA
commissioned study by Booz Allen Hamilton. The FCC report shows that, in order
for cable and satellite customers to pay less than their current monthly
service, customers who choose a la carte would only be able to purchase and view
a handful of channels. Under this scenario, all other customers would end up
paying more – even those who chose to continue purchasing the same expanded
basic tiers that they buy today."
On October 24, 2003, the General Accounting
Office (GAO) released a
study [94 pages in PDF] titled "Telecommunications: Issues Related to
Competition and Subscriber Rates in the Cable Television Industry". See, story
titled "GAO Releases Study on Cable Industry" in
TLJ Daily E-Mail
Alert No. 766, October 27, 2003.
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Publication Schedule |
The TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert will be published on Wednesday,
November 24, 2004, but not on Thursday, November 25, or Friday, November
26.
There was considerable Congressional activity last week and over the
weekend. TLJ has yet to write about House and Senate passage of
S 150, the "Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act", passage of the
"Satellite Home Viewer Extension Reauthorization Act" (SHVERA),
and other matters. |
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Washington Tech Calendar
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Tuesday, November 23 |
8:30 AM - The National Science
Foundation's (NSF) President's Committee on the National Medal of Science will
hold a meeting that is closed to the public. See,
notice in the Federal Register, November 5, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 214, at
Page 64596. Location: Room 1235, NSF, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA.
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Friday, November 26 |
There will be no issue of the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert.
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Monday, November 29 |
The Supreme
Court will return from the recess that it began on Monday, November 25, 2004. See,
Order
List [14 pages in PDF] at page 14.
6:00 - 9:15 PM. The DC Bar Association
will host a continuing legal education (CLE) program titled "How to Litigate
an Intellectual Property Case Series, Part 3: How to Litigate a Patent Case".
The speaker will be Patrick Coyne (Finnegan Henderson). See,
notice.
Prices vary from $70 to $115. For more information, call 202 626-3488. Location: D.C.
Bar Conference Center, B-1 Level, 1250 H St., NW.
Deadline to submit reply comments to the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed
rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The FCC adopted this NPRM
at its August 4, 2004 meeting, and released it on August 12, 2004. This NPRM is FCC
04-189 in EB Docket No. 04-296. See,
notice in the Federal Register, August 30, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 167, at
Pages 52843 - 52847.
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Tuesday, November 30 |
8:30 AM - 3:00 PM. The Department of Commerce's
(DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology's
(NIST), Advanced Technology Program Advisory Committee will meet. Pre-registration is
required. Contact Carolyn Peters by November 23 at
carolyn.peters@nist.gov or 301 975-5607. See,
notice in the Federal Register, November 9, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 216, at
Page 64907. Location: NIST, Administration Building, Lecture Room B,
Gaithersburg, MD.
Extended deadline to submit comments to Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [38 pages in PDF] regarding use by
unlicensed devices of broadcast television spectrum where the spectrum is not
in use by broadcasters. See,
story
titled "FCC Adopts NPRM Regarding Unlicensed Use of Broadcast TV Spectrum" in
TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No.
898, May 14, 2004, and story titled "FCC Releases NPRM Regarding Unlicensed Use
of TV Spectrum" in TLJ
Daily E-Mail Alert No. 905, May 26, 2004. This NPRM is FCC 04-113 in ET Docket Nos.
04-186 and No. 02-380. See,
notice (setting original deadlines) in the Federal Register, June 18,
2004, Vol. 69, No. 117, at pages 34103-34112; and
notice [PDF] of extended deadlines, and
erratum [PDF].
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Wednesday, December 1 |
9:00 AM. Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner
Kathleen Abernathy will hold
an event titled "briefing for members of the media". She will discuss her
role in the ITU Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) Conference, to be held in
Geneva, Switzerland on December 8-10, 2004. RSVP to Marybeth McCarrick at 202 418-0654
or Meribeth.McCarrick@fcc.gov. Location:
FCC, Room 8B115, 445 12th Street, SW.
12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar
Association's (FCBA) Mass Media Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch.
The title of the event is "Meet the Trade Press". No RSVP is required.
Location: NAB, 1771 N St., NW.
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Thursday, December 2 |
9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals
(DCCir) will hear oral argument in Rainbow Push Coalition v. FCC,
No. 01-1072. Judges Henderson, Rogers and Tatel will preside. Location: Prettyman
Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave., NW.
The Federal Communications Bar Association
(FCBA) will host an event titled "18th Annual Chairman's Dinner".
The reception will begin at 6:00 PM. The dinner begins at 7:30 PM. Location:
Washington Hilton, 1919 Connecticut Ave., NW.
Day one of a two day event hosted by the Federal
Communications Bar Association (FCBA) and the
Practicing Law Institute (PLI) titled "22nd
Annual Telecommunications Policy and Regulation Conference". The price to
attend ranges from $1,165.50 to $1,295.00. See,
registration form
[PDF]. Location. Watergate Hotel, 2650 Virginia Ave., NW.
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Friday, December 3 |
Day two of a two day event hosted by the
Federal Communications Bar Association
(FCBA) and the Practicing Law Institute (PLI)
titled "22nd Annual Telecommunications Policy and Regulation Conference".
The price to attend ranges from $1,165.50 to $1,295.00. See,
registration form
[PDF]. Location. Watergate Hotel, 2650 Virginia Ave., NW.
12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The
Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) will
host a panel discussion titled "The Myths and Realities of Universal Service:
Revisiting the Justification for the Current Subsidies". The speakers will
include Randolph May and Joseph Kraemer. See,
notice and
online registration
page. Press contact: Patrick Ross at 202 289-8928 or
pross@pff.org. Lunch will be served. Location: Room
B369, Rayburn Building.
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FCC to Fine Seller of Unauthorized Radio
Transmitters |
11/22. The Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) released a
Notice of
Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) [7 pages in PDF] against
Pilot Travel Centers for
apparently willfully and repeatedly offering for sale radio frequency devices without the
required FCC equipment authorizations. This NAL proposes to fine
Pilot $125,000.
Pilot sells Amateur Radio Service (ARS) transmitters that are
easily converted by consumers into Citizens Band (CB) radio transmitters. Radio
frequency devices that transmit solely on ARS frequencies are not subject to FCC equipment
authorization requirements prior to manufacture or marketing. However, CB radios are subject
to equipment authorization requirements. Moreover, the FCC's rules provide that CB radios
include "a transmitter that operates or is intended to operate at a station
authorized in the CB".
The FCC issued numerous citations to
Pilot over several years. Pilot continued to market its devices. The NAL also
notes that "The proliferation of non-certified CB transmitters may
result in interference to certified CB transmitters and other devices,
thereby undermining the effectiveness of our technical rules."
Pilot is a travel center business, not a business that focuses on consumer
electronics. That is, its retail operations, which are located on major
highways, provide gas, meals, groceries, and services, including internet
kiosks, check cashing, money orders, laundry, game rooms, pay phones with data
ports, wireless internet, audio book rentals, Western Union, and pre-paid phone
cards.
On October 28, 2004, the FCC's Enforcement
Bureau (EB) released an
Order and
Consent Decree [8 pages in PDF] that fines TON
Services, Inc. $40,000 for violating the universal service reporting and
contribution requirements of
47 U.S.C. § 254, and the FCC's rules thereunder. TON Services does not focus
telecommunications. It provides services to truck
drivers and other travelers. It provides load/equipment posting, freight
matching, advertising services, truck insurance, flower bouquet ordering, and
other truck driver related services. It also provides access to pre-paid calling cards,
payphones, WiFi access and data jacks at truck stops.
This NAL is FCC 04-272. The FCC adopted this item on November
18, 2004, and released it on November 22, 2004. See also, FCC
release [PDF].
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New European Commissioners
Take Office |
11/22. The Council of the European Union appointed the President and Members
of the Commission of the European Communities, effective November 22, 2004. See,
list
[PDF].
José Barroso was appointed President.
Neelie
Kroes was appointed to replace Mario Monti as Commissioner
for Competition Policy. She is a member of the Liberal Party in the Netherlands.
Kroes (at left) gave a
speech [9 pages in PDF] on her appointment in which she stated that "New
economies are emerging quickly; new technologies mean our network economy
moves ever quicker. We need to ensure that Europe can retain and increase its
competitive edge. Based on the triangle of knowledge, entrepreneurship and
access to finance, innovation and competition can take on new dimensions to meet
these challenges. I want to ensure that European rules allow all three elements
of this triangle to flourish."
She also said that "I think more should be done to remove obstacles to
competition in recently liberalised sectors, such as telecommunications, postal services,
energy and transport, and to stimulate innovation and new ideas."
Peter Mandelson was appointed to replace Pascal Lamy as Commissioner for
Trade. He is from the United Kingdom, and is a member of the Tony Blair's Labour Party.
Mandelson
(at right) gave a
speech on October 4, 2004 in which he stated that "If confirmed, I hope to
achieve the following ... First and foremost, complete the Doha Round: to open
markets for industrial goods, services and agriculture, including between
developing countries. In the face of globalisation, the Round should make
trade's rule book fair for all, integrate development goals into trade policies,
and benefit the poor. The Hong Kong ministerial must make a critical advance."
He also addressed the "transatlantic agenda". He said that "We
should find new ways to move forward by reducing the scope for conflict between our
regulatory approaches and by forging closer cooperation. There is no more important
partnership for the world's prosperity and security than that between Europe and America.
We need to strengthen it further. We need dialogue between EU and US civil society,
and I intend to be a good listener. I will do all I can to manage and resolve
the inevitable disputes, so that they do not undermine the wider relationship."
Viviane Reding was appointed to replace Erkki Liikanen as Commissioner for
Information Society. She is from Luxembourg.
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More News |
11/19. The Office of the U.S. Trade
Representative (USTR) issued a
release [PDF] regarding discussions at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) summit in Santiago, Chile pertaining to protection of intellectual
property rights. It states that the participants "stressed the importance of
effective intellectual property rights protection and enforcement regimes, and
their contribution towards promoting investment, innovation, and growth."
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