I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2517

To enhance criminal enforcement of the copyright laws, educate the public 

about the application of copyright law to the Internet, and clarify the 

authority to seize unauthorized copyrighted works. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 19, 2003

Mr. SMITH of Texas (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, and Mr. CONYERS) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To enhance criminal enforcement of the copyright laws, educate the public about the application of copyright law 

to the Internet, and clarify the authority to seize unauthorized copyrighted works.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Piracy Deterrence and 

5 Education Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 
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1 (1) The Internet, while changing the way our 

2 society communicates, has also changed the nature 

3 of many crimes, including the theft of intellectual 

4 property. 

5 (2) Trafficking in copyrighted works through 

6 increasingly sophisticated electronic means, including 

7 peer-to-peer file trading networks, Internet chat 

8 rooms, and newsgroups, threatens lost jobs, lost in9 come for creators, lower tax revenue, and higher 

10 prices for honest purchasers. 

11 (3) The most popular peer-to-peer file trading 

12 software programs have been downloaded by com13 puter users over 200,000,000 times. At any one time 

14 there are over 3,000,000 users simultaneously using 

15 just one of these services. Each month, on average, 

16 over 2,300,000,000 digital-media files are trans17 ferred among users of peer-to-peer systems. 

18 (4) Many computer users either do not know 

19 that copyright laws apply to Internet activity or sim20 ply believe that they will not be caught or prosecuted 

21 for their conduct. 

22 (5) In addition, many of the computer users 

23 drawn to the convenience of peer-to-peer systems do 

24 not realize that these systems pose serious security 

25 and privacy threats to their personal computers or 
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1 company networks. Recent studies reveal that the 

2 majority of the users of these systems are unable to 

3 tell what files they are sharing and sometimes incor4 rectly assume they were not sharing any files when 

5 in fact they were sharing all files on their hard 

6 drive. 

7 (6) The security and privacy threats posed by 

8 peer-to-peer networks extend beyond users inadvert9 ently enabling a hacker to access files. Millions of 

10 copies of one of the most popular peer-to-peer net11 works contain software that could allow an inde12 pendent company to take over portions of users’ 

13 computers and Internet connections and has the ca14 pacity to keep track of users’ online habits. 

15 (7) In light of these considerations, it is impor16 tant that Federal law enforcement agencies actively 

17 pursue criminals who steal the copyrighted works of 

18 others, and prevent such activity through enforce19 ment and awareness. It is also important that the 

20 public be educated about the security and privacy 

21 risks associated with being connected to an unau22 thorized peer-to-peer network. 

23 (8) In addition, the Bureau of Customs and 

24 Border Protection of the Department of Homeland 

25 Security has the authority to act against infringe-
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1 ments of copyrighted works, including those works 

2 protected under the Berne Convention and the 

3 Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual 

4 Property of the World Trade Organization. Under 

5 United States law, merchandise can be seized by or 

6 forfeited to the Bureau of Customs and Border Pro7 tection if ‘‘it is merchandise or packaging in which 

8 copyright, trademark, or trade name protection vio9 lations are involved’’ (section 596(c)(2)(C) of the 

10 Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1595a(c)(2)(C)). 

11 (9) Though the regulations of the Bureau of 

12 Customs and Border Protection (section 133.31 of 

13 title 19, Code of Federal Regulations) provide that 

14 registered copyrighted works may be recorded with 

15 the Bureau for ‘‘import protection,’’ recordation is 

16 not explicitly required before infringing merchandise 

17 can be seized or forfeited. Notwithstanding present 

18 legal authority, there have been concerns raised 

19 about the authority of the Bureau of Customs and 

20 Border Protection to seize infringing copyrighted 

21 materials that have neither been registered with the 

22 United States Copyright Office or recorded with the 

23 Bureau. 

24 (10) Neither United States nor foreign works 

25 require registration with the Copyright Office for 
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1 protection of the copyright in those works. United 

2 States works require registration only before an ac3 tion for infringement is brought under title 17, 

4 United States Code. A foreign work need not be reg5 istered to bring such an action for infringement, and 

6 none of the rights contained in title 17, United 

7 States Code, including the right to control distribu8 tion in section 106 of that title or importation under 

9 section 602 of that title, are contingent upon reg10 istration. In accordance with the international obli11 gations of the United States barring the use of for12 malities, United States law gives foreign copyright 

13 owners direct access to United States courts and 

14 procedures without resort to any registration re15 quirement, and section 603 of title 17, United 

16 States Code, directs the Secretary of the Treasury 

17 and the United States Postal Service to separately 

18 or jointly make regulations for the enforcement of 

19 the provisions of title 17, United States Code, pro20 hibiting importation. 

21 (11) Notwithstanding the preceding provisions 

22 of this section, the Bureau of Customs and Border 

23 Protection has been unclear about its legal authority 

24 to seize infringing copyrighted materials that have 

25 neither been registered with the Copyright Office nor 
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1 recorded with the Bureau. To provide clarity, it is 

2 necessary to specify the authority of the Bureau of 

3 Customs and Border Protection to seize infringing 

4 materials protected by the copyright laws, with or 

5 without registration or recordation. 

6 SEC. 3. DETERRENCE AND COORDINATION. 

7 The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 

8 shall—

9 (1) develop a program to deter members of the 

10 public from committing acts of copyright infringe11 ment by—

12 (A) offering on the Internet copies of copy13 righted works, or 

14 (B) making copies of copyrighted works 

15 from the Internet, 

16 without the authorization of the copyright owners; 

17 and 

18 (2) facilitate the sharing among law enforce19 ment agencies, Internet service providers, and copy20 right owners of information concerning activities de21 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph 

22 (1). 

23 The program under paragraph (1) shall include issuing 

24 appropriate warnings to individuals engaged in an activity 
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1 described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) 

2 that they may be subject to criminal prosecution. 

3 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION AND TRAINING OF AGENTS IN COM4 PUTER HACKING AND INTELLECTUAL PROP5 ERTY UNITS. 

6 (a) DESIGNATION OF AGENTS IN CHIPS UNITS.—

7 The Attorney General shall ensure that any unit in the 

8 Department of Justice responsible for investigating com9 puter hacking or responsible for investigating intellectual 

10 property crimes is assigned at least one agent to support 

11 such unit for the purpose of investigating crimes relating 

12 to the theft of intellectual property. 

13 (b) TRAINING.—The Attorney General shall ensure 

14 that each agent assigned under subsection (a) has received 

15 training in the investigation and enforcement of intellec16 tual property crimes. 

17 SEC. 5. EDUCATION PROGRAM. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be established 

19 within the Office of the Associate Attorney General of the 

20 United States an Internet Use Education Program. 

21 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Internet Use 

22 Education Program shall be to—

23 (1) educate the general public concerning the 

24 value of copyrighted works and the effects of the 

25 theft of such works on those who create them; 
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1 (2) educate the general public concerning the 

2 privacy, security, and other risks of using the Inter3 net to obtain unauthorized copies of copyrighted 

4 works; 

5 (3) coordinate and consult with the Department 

6 of Education on compliance by educational institu7 tions with applicable copyright laws involving Inter8 net use; and 

9 (4) coordinate and consult with the Department 

10 of Commerce on compliance by corporations with ap11 plicable copyright laws involving Internet use. 

12 SEC. 6. CUSTOMS RECORDATION. 

13 (a) REGISTRATION AND INFRINGEMENT ACTIONS.—

14 Section 411(a) of title 17, United States Code, is amended 

15 by inserting after the first sentence the following: ‘‘An ac16 tion for infringement of the copyright in any United States 

17 work shall not include any action brought by the Govern18 ment of the United States or by any agency or instrumen19 tality thereof.’’. 

20 (b) INFRINGING IMPORTATION.—Section 602(a) of 

21 title 17, United States Code, is amended by inserting be22 fore the period at the end of the first sentence the fol23 lowing: ‘‘, regardless of whether that work has been reg24 istered with the Copyright Office or recorded with the Bu-
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1 reau of Customs and Border Protection of the Department 

2 of Homeland Security’’. 

3 (c) IMPORTATION PROHIBITIONS.—Section 603(a) of 

4 title 17, United States Code, is amended by inserting be5 fore the period the following: ‘‘of copies or phonorecords 

6 of a work protected under this title, regardless of whether 

7 that work has been registered with the Copyright Office 

8 or recorded with the Bureau of Customs and Border Pro9 tection of the Department of Homeland Security’’. 

10 SEC. 7. INFRINGEMENT WARNING NOTICE. 

11 The Attorney General shall, within 3 months after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act, set forth criteria 

13 under which copyright owners designated by the Attorney 

14 General will be able to use the seal of the Federal Bureau 

15 of Investigation for deterrent purposes in connection with 

16 physical and digital copies and phonorecords and digital 

17 transmission of their works of authorship.

Æ