If you have heard buzz behind IPAA you aren't the only one. However, the threat of it representing 'SOPA 2.0' isn't real.
You may remember a while back there
was a large storm of controversy regarding a piece of legislation
called SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), or at least the blackout day to
protest it early this year. The legislation was the first major push
to combat piracy in the U.S. Since the DMCA (Digital Millennium
Copyright Act). It and its sister bill, PIPA (Protect IP Act), were
heavily backed by the music and film industries who have suffered the
most from online piracy. Various concerns were raised about the
terminology in the bill (mainly that it was vague enough to be
abused),effects on internet security, and giving the government
pseudo-censorship authority. The two bills were killed, likely as a
result of the January 18th protest blackout.
The concern behind IPAA is that it
resurrects some aspects of the SOPA/PIPA legislation. First lets
establish what it is that IPAA will do. The Act will expand the
current Patent and Trademark Office. The Administrator for Policy and
External Affairs would become Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce
for Intellectual Property Policy and External Affairs. He/She would
then appoint representatives (Attaches) of the PTO who will help
lobby for greater copyright protection in other countries.
The Good
Protecting copyrights expands far
beyond music and movies. A large portion of products we export rely
on copyright protection to ward off cheap imitators. Enforcing our
copyrights outside our borders will secure demand U.S. Products.
The Bad
The threat of these attaches
successfully lobbying for SOPA-like legislation in other nations is
very real. Legislators could then reference these policies in other
countries to legitimatize similar legislation here.
So IPAA doesn't present any threat to
our freedoms directly, but could pave the way for more frightful
legislation in the future.
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