Obama Finally Appoints IP Czar... Puts It In The Wrong Department
from the of-course dept
In a move that surprises no one, the Obama administration finally got around to officially nominating Victoria Espinel to be the IP Czar, a position that was created out of thin air a year ago in the ProIP Act, though the position went entirely unfilled until now. Hollywood lobbyists have been pushing the administration to appoint someone ever since the spring, and VP Joe Biden had to come out and calm Hollywood execs and lawyers by promising them the "right person" would be appointed (meaning: not someone who is interested in copyright reform).And yet... there was no appointment for so long. Why? Well, a few weeks ago, it was explained that there was a fight over where to put the position and under what group Espinel's office would exist. The most obvious group was the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The problem? Most of the folks in OSTP actually seem to understand the problems of copyright law. They're fans of openness and understand things like Creative Commons. Entertainment industry lobbyists started to freak out again, that even if they got someone on "their side," that placing them in OSTP would stifle them, as the rest of the group might (gasp!) actually push back on attempts to stretch copyright enforcement towards the maximalist position. Instead, they wanted the position to be either its own office (entirely unlikely) or, in the Office of Management & Budget. Why OMB? No good reason. The position doesn't fit there at all... but putting it there keeps it away from those darn "copyleftists" in OSTP.
So where did the position end up? Yup... it's a part of OMB, just like Hollywood wanted. Lobbyists on all sides of the equation -- including consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge, though, are saying that Espinel is a good appointee. I certainly hope so, though I disagree that the position should exist at all. Also, Espinel was formerly the IP boss for the US Trade Representative -- a group that has been known to push for more draconian IP laws, and to do so cloaked in secrecy. So... I'm hoping to be surprised, but putting the office in OMB and having someone from USTR isn't encouraging.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: copyright czar, ip czar, ostp, ustr, victoria espinel
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Can we just let California go off and become it's own country?
Victoria seems to be one of these talking heads, and I have a hard time believing that Victoria is anything less than that. I mean, as an Assistant to the USTR for Intellectual Property and Innovation, and to not have something as "innovative" as a wikipedia page, really shows lack of innovation.
Who appoints these people? Oh yes, the country of California.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
What do we *really* know about her? I want to call my representatives.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Yeah, but from what I've heard, it's almost certainly a sure thing.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Sounds like a formality.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
How about we instill a "Czar of Representative Opinion"
So while we continue to create these "Czars", which apparently have a tremendous amount of power, why not create a Czar of Representative Opinion? Because as time goes on, and the idea of representative government is watered down with lobbists-turned-czars, we must face the facts. This is a Czar we need.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: How about we instill a "Czar of Representative Opinion"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: How to handle these Czars
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: How to handle these Czars
They knew how to handle things. "Here Julius, hold this."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: How about we instill a "Czar of Representative Opinion"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I also dont know why the left has always had a problem with executive pay, but has never had an issue with big hollywood pay?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
But "this narrow perspective" is not the only way to look at things. One of the IPEC's duties is to "make recommendations, if any and as appropriate, to Congress for improvements in Federal intellectual property laws and enforcement efforts." A broad perspective could make the IPEC's work part of a comprehensive policy of copyright reform. But we learn from the CNET interview with Aneesh Chopra that copyright reform is simply not a priority for President Obama. Seen in this light, placing the IPEC in OMB can be taken as part of a comprehensive policy not to rock the boat where copyright is concerned. The clear conclusion to draw is that we copyfighters frankly have much much more work to do if we want to get our concerns assigned higher priority in the halls of power.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Started with Clinton
Basically, they see the fallacy of "Fair Trade" as it currently exists, and seek to fix it by forcing China and other backwards societies to agree to cane all their street media vendors, on behalf of the good ol' US of A. I'm surprised we haven't heard any reports of A/V media pirates being waterboarded until they admit they love the DMCA, yet.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]