President signs anti-counterfeiting bill
Executive Summary
President Bush signed the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act into law Oct. 13. It enhances civil and criminal IP laws by, among other things, providing harsher penalties; creating an IP crimes unit at the FBI; and authorizing appointment of an IP Enforcement Coordinator within the Executive Office of the President (1"The Pink Sheet," Sept. 22, 2008, p. 20). A provision that would have authorized civil actions against criminal copyright infringers and given resulting awards to the copyright owner was dropped from the final bill