from www.thehill.com – The Senate Judiciary Committee has unveiled the witness list for Wednesday’s hearing on intellectual property enforcement.
The Committee, led by chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt. pictured) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), passed the bipartisan Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act last fall that would make it significantly easier for the Justice Department to shut down domains dealing in pirated goods.
Leahy has indicated he plans to introduce similar legislation this year even as advocacy groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation have warned the bill could amount to online censorship. Stakeholders testifying on Wednesday include representatives from Visa, Verizon and domain registrar GoDaddy.
The full list of witnesses and descriptions from the Committee after the jump.
Tom Adams, President and CEO, Rosetta Stone, Inc.: Mr. Adams is expected to testify about the impact that rogue websites dedicated to selling counterfeit goods have on his business, both in the form of lost revenue and harm to the Rosetta Stone brand. He will also testify about the risk of harm to consumers who purchase counterfeit goods.
Scott Turow, best-selling author and President of the Authors Guild: Mr. Turow is expected to testify about the impact of the sale of unauthorized electronic books on authors and publishers.
Christine N. Jones, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, The Go Daddy Group, Inc.: Ms. Jones is expected to testify about the scope of the online infringement problem, and the ability of Go Daddy, a website registrar, to suspend access to domain names that sell counterfeit or pirated goods, and related issues.
Thomas M. Dailey, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Verizon: Mr. Dailey is expected to testify about the ability of an Internet Service Provider, such as Verizon, to work with the Department of Justice to block consumer access to a website found by a court to be dedicated to online infringement, and related issues.
Denise Yee, Senior Trademark Counsel, Visa, Inc.: Ms. Yee is expected to testify about the ability of an online payment processor, such as Visa, to stop processing consumer payments for a website found by a court to be dedicated to online infringement, and related issues.
