Lawmakers: ITC should regulate online infringement

Addressing the thorny issue of how the United States should address online infringement, lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan, bicameral proposal that would give the International Trade Commission the authority to launch investigations into digital imports, or downloads, of counterfeit goods.

The ITC can currently issue orders excluding foreign counterfeit goods from entering the country, and the draft would extend that jurisdiction to the Web. Under the proposal, the ITC would have the authority to issue a cease-and-desist order against foreign Web sites that “primarily” and “willfully” engage in infringing U.S. copyrights or enabling imports of counterfeit goods. The commission would be able to tell U.S. companies to stop dealing with foreign companies that import counterfeit goods. Those orders would ultimately be enforceable by the US attorney general. The public would be notified of investigations, and final determinations could be appealed in a US court. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), who helped draft the discussion document, said that the transparency and narrow scope of the ITC process make this approach preferable to those laid out in the Protect IP Act.