To Crown a Copyright Czar

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Also in favor of stepped-up IP protections is the MPAA, whose members include Sony Pictures Entertainment (SNE), Viacom's (VIA) Paramount Pictures, and Disney's (DIS) Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

A copyright operating under the auspices of the White House would have greater clout, supporters say. The person would chair an interagency committee much like the one that exists today, but it would include higher-ranking agency officials. The new czar would oversee an annual budget of about $30 million and may have the authority to commandeer other agencies' staff resources. "It's all adding to a much higher profile for this issue," says Israel, who left his post in March to become managing partner at policy consultancy PCT Government Relations in Washington. "Because the problem is growing, keeping up with the challenges is what we face," Israel adds.

Consumers Concerned About Access

The U.S.-based Center for Medicines in the Public Interest predicts that counterfeit drug sales will reach $75 billion globally in 2010, up 90% from 2005. The Institute for Policy Innovation estimates that global music piracy results in losses of $12.5 billion and costs 71,060 U.S. jobs a year.

Some companies and public-interest groups have voiced concerns that in stepping up efforts to combat IP theft the government may also thwart consumers' access to information and increase fines for purportedly illegal downloading. Late last year, William Patry, senior copyright counsel at Google (GOOG), publicly voiced concerns over legislative efforts to impose more stringent penalties on those accused of copyright infringement. "The question is cost-benefit analysis," says Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, a consumer-rights group that opposes legislation it believes would stymie innovation. "How many taxpayer dollars should be put towards protecting a private industry?"

Others say the government shouldn't add another bureaucracy to handle challenges that might be better addressed by international legislative efforts and courts. Establishing a new copyright czar "is window dressing at best and insertion of more bureaucracy at worst," says Paul Goldstein, law professor at Stanford University. "It certainly has the appearance of accomplishing something, but all these resources are already there."

Drivers in Danger

But are those resources working together in the right ways? Industries that say they're being ripped off answer with a resounding no. Jeffrey Thurnau, counsel to auto parts maker Gates, showed senators counterfeit timing belts that he says could put drivers, passengers, and other motorists in danger. "We want better coordination between enforcement agencies," he says.

Kharif is a senior writer for BusinessWeek.com in Portland, Ore.