Intellectual Property Meeting Leaves Some Unhappy

Public interest and tech industry advocates voiced disappointment about being left out of a round table discussion Tuesday afternoon being hosted by Vice President Biden and several cabinet officials to discuss enforcing laws against the piracy of intellectual property. In addition to the vice president, the event will feature a who's who of Obama administration officials who have a role to play in enforcing IP laws. They include Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, FBI Director Robert Mueller, U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director David Kappos and the White House's new IP enforcement coordinator, Victoria Espinel. The industry participants include executives from the movie studios, record companies, book publishers, television networks and the heads of the Motion Picture Association of America and Recording Industry Association of America, as well as unions representing actors and directors. Both Public Knowledge and TechAmerica released statements arguing that they have important roles to play in the debate.