Ernest Miller, Andrew Greenberg and Joshua Wattles

The Inducing Infringements of Copyright Act of 2004, commonly called the INDUCE Act, is a bill before the Senate that is ostensibly meant to make it easier for the copyright industry to sue the distributors of technology that can be used for filesharing. Those who distribute certain technologies or devices could be found guilty for the copyright violations of their users. It is difficult to overestimate the effect this legislation would have on the IT industry. This show discusses the original bill as well as various alternatives, including the version provided by the Copyright Office.

Andrew Greenberg, who considers himself a recovering geek, after a first career as a software publisher and designer (including the classic game, Wizardry), points out just how far this law is a change from existing copyright statutes and calls for more study before making such a radical shift in liability. Joshua Wattles, who has represented a major motion picture studio as well as a P2P company, also explains why the INDUCE Act is not a viable solution to the copyright industry's problems.

The INDUCE Act is being fast-tracked through Congress. You won't want to miss this show.

Andrew Greenberg is an attorney with Carlton Fields and Vice-Chairman of the Intellectual Property Committee for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Joshua Wattles is past president of the Los Angeles Copyright Society and the former acting general counsel of Paramount Pictures Corporation.

This program is one of a series, The Importance of...Law and IT, hosted by Ernest Miller.