New Goverment Position Tackles Copyright Theft

The White House announced in a press release that it was creating a position in the Department of Commerce to coordinate efforts to stop international copyright theft. It then went on to announce the appointment of Christian Israel, a current deputy chief of staff in the commerce department, to the position.

Israel, fundamentally, will head a multi-agency panel directed with stopping foreign theft of works and will be in charge of monitoring other nation’s progress and securing deals from other countries to crack down on infringement of American intellectual property.

Anyone who’s tried to deal with a case of plagiarism that stretches across borders knows how difficult it can be, especially when a country such as China or Russia is involved. However, it’s unlikely that this new position will do anyone reading this any good. Judging from the history of the initiative and the comments made by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez in a recent AP article, it’s primarily concerned with pirated movies and records.

It’s a shame because most creativity taking place today is by individual artists working for little to no money. However, the government only seems to take an interest in cases with high monetary losses. Just proof that the government isn’t out to “protect the creativity, resourcefulness, and innovation of Americans” but the wallets of their biggest donors.

Sad, but very true.