TITLE I—PIRACY DETERRENCE
IN EDUCATION
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Piracy Deterrence and
Education Act of 2004’’.
SEC. 102. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) The Internet, while changing the way our
society communicates, has also changed the nature
of many crimes, including the theft of intellectual
property.
(2) Trafficking in infringing copyrighted works
through increasingly sophisticated electronic means,
including peer-to-peer file trading networks, Internet
chat rooms, and news groups, threatens lost jobs,
lost income for creators, lower tax revenue, and
higher prices for honest purchasers.
(3) The most popular peer-to-peer file trading
software programs have been downloaded by com-
puter users over 600,000,000 times. At any one time
there are over 3,000,000 users simultaneously using
just one of these services. Each month, on average,
over 2,300,000,000 digital-media files are trans-
ferred among users of peer-to-peer systems.
(4) Many computer users simply believe that
they will not be caught or prosecuted for their con-
duct.
(5) The security and privacy threats posed by
certain peer-to-peer networks extend beyond users
inadvertently enabling a hacker to access files. Mil-
lions of copies of one of the most popular peer-to-
peer networks contain software that could allow an
independent company to take over portions of users’
computers and Internet connections and has the ca-
pacity to keep track of users’ online habits.
(6) In light of these considerations, Federal law
enforcement agencies should actively pursue crimi-
nals who steal the copyrighted works of others, and
prevent such activity through enforcement and
awareness. The public should be educated about the
security and privacy risks associated with being con-
nected to certain peer-to-peer networks.
SEC. 103. VOLUNTARY PROGRAM OF DEPARTMENT OF JUS-
TICE.
(a) VOLUNTARY PROGRAM.—The Attorney General is
authorized to establish a program under which the De-
partment of Justice, in cases where persons who are sub-
scribers of Internet service providers appear to the De-
partment of Justice to be engaging in copyright infringing
conduct in the course of using such Internet service, would
send to the Internet service providers warning letters that
warn such persons of the penalties for such copyright in-
fringement. The Internet service providers may forward
the warning letters to such persons.
(b) LIMITATIONS ON PROGRAM.—
(1) EXTENT AND LENGTH OF PROGRAM.—The
program under subsection (a) shall terminate at the
end of the 18-month period beginning on the date of
the enactment of this Act and shall be limited to not
more than 10,000 warning letters.
(2) PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.—No Internet serv-
ice provider that receives a warning letter from the
Department of Justice under subsection (a) may dis-
close to the Department any identifying information
about the subscriber that is the subject of the warn-
ing letter except pursuant to court order or other
applicable legal process that requires such disclo-
sure.
(c) REIMBURSEMENT OF INTERNET SERVICE PRO-
VIDERS.—The Department of Justice shall reimburse
Internet service providers for all reasonable direct costs
incurred by such service providers in identifying the prop-
er recipients of the warning letters under subsection (a)
and forwarding the letters.
(d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Attorney General
shall submit to the Congress a report on the program es-
tablished under subsection (a) both at the time the pro-
gram is initiated and at the conclusion of the program.
(e) INADMISSIBILITY OF EVIDENCE.—The fact that
an Internet service provider participated in the program
under subsection (a), received a warning letter from the
Department of Justice, was aware of the contents of the
warning letter, or forwarded the warning letter to a sub-
scriber, shall not be admissible in any legal proceeding
brought against the Internet service provider.
(f) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be
construed to affect the ability of a court to consider, in
a legal proceeding brought against an Internet service pro-
vider, notifications of claimed infringement as described
in section 512(c)(3) of title 17, United States Code, or
any other relevant evidence, other than that described in
subsection (e).
SEC. 104. DESIGNATION AND TRAINING OF AGENTS IN COM-
PUTER HACKING AND INTELLECTUAL PROP-
ERTY UNITS.
(a) DESIGNATION OF AGENTS IN CHIPS UNITS.—
The Attorney General shall ensure that any unit in the
Department of Justice responsible for investigating com-
puter hacking or responsible for investigating intellectual
property crimes is assigned at least one agent to support
such unit for the purpose of investigating crimes relating
to the theft of intellectual property.
(b) TRAINING.—The Attorney General shall ensure
that each agent assigned under subsection (a) has received
training in the investigation and enforcement of intellec-
tual property crimes.
SEC. 105. EDUCATION PROGRAM.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be established
within the Office of the Associate Attorney General of the
United States an Internet Use Education Program.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Internet Use
Education Program shall be to—
(1) educate the general public concerning the
value of copyrighted works and the effects of the
theft of such works on those who create them; and
(2) educate the general public concerning the
privacy, security, and other risks of using the Inter-
net to obtain illegal copies of copyrighted works.
(c) SECTOR SPECIFIC MATERIALS.—The Internet
Use Educational Program shall, to the extent appropriate,
develop materials appropriate to Internet users in dif-
ferent sectors of the general public where criminal copy-
right infringement is a concern. The Attorney General
shall consult with appropriate interested parties in devel-
oping such sector-specific materials.
(d) CONSULTATIONS.—The Attorney General shall
consult with the Register of Copyrights and the Secretary
of Commerce in developing the Internet Use Education
Program under this section.
(e) PROHIBITION ON USE OF CERTAIN FUNDS.—The
program created under this section shall not use funds or
resources of the Department of Justice allocated for crimi-
nal investigation or prosecution.
(f) ADDITIONAL PROHIBITION
ON
THE USE
OF
FUNDS.—The program created under this section shall
not use any funds or resources of the Department of Jus-
tice allocated for the Civil Rights Division of the Depart-
ment, including any funds allocated for the enforcement
of civil rights or the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
SEC. 106. ACTIONS BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED
STATES.
Section 411(a) of title 17, United States Code, is
amended in the first sentence by striking ‘‘Except for’’
and inserting ‘‘Except for an action brought by the Gov-
ernment of the United States or by any agency or instru-
mentality thereof, or’’ .