1. Senator Kohl Introduces Economic Espionage Bill to Protect U.S. Business from IP Theft (Milwaukee Business Journal)
Senator Kohl has introduced the “Economic Espionage Penalty Enhancement Act of 2011,” co-sponsored by Senators Whitehouse and Coons. The bill would increase the maximum penalty range for economic espionage from 15 to 20 years and direct the U.S. Sentencing Commission to increase the penalty ranges for these types of offenses.
2. Differences Remain Over House Patent Reform Bill (BroadbandBreakfast.com)
The America Invents Act introduced in the House remains a source of deep division between technology companies large and small.
3. U.S. Lawmakers Renew Push for “Rogue Websites” Bill (Reuters)
A bipartisan group of lawmakers from both chambers of Congress vow to pass legislation that would give the Justice Department new authority to pursue foreign and domestic websites selling pirated movies, music, and counterfeit goods.
4. House Energy and Commerce Members Request Information from Google About Anti-Piracy Initiative (PDF)
House Energy and Commerce Members, Walden, Bono Mack, Terry, Blackburn and Weiner sent a letter to Google’s CEO, Larry Page, seeking specific information about how Google plans to implement the pro-active steps to help protect copyrighted works on-line that Google announced in December.
5. Anti-Piracy Caucus Sends Letter to Ad Council Requesting Action Against Rogue Websites (PDF)
Anti-piracy Caucus chairmen Senators Whitehouse and Hatch, and Representatives Goodlatte and Schiff sent a letter to the Ad Council raising concerns about the appearance of the Ad Council logo on various rogue websites and urging the Ad Council to take steps to ensure its logo is removed from such sites and to develop an advertising campaign to combat digital theft of works online.