The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2007 passed both the House and Senate. The law gives government agencies tools to gather evidence for prosecution of intellectual-property crimes, provides funds to the Department of Justice to better enforce IP-related crimes, and boosts collaboration between agencies seeking to stop piracy.

PRO-IP also creates an IP enforcement overseer to provide federal, state and local agencies with tools to enforce IP protection and reduce the number of incidents. The Department of Justice, however, has blasted this provision.

Reason to Celebrate

Intellectual-property theft costs American companies $250 billion in lost revenue each year, according to the National Association of Manufacturers.

"The PRO-IP Act is a shining example of a bicameral, bipartisan effort to advance legislation to protect our consumers, jobs and businesses from intellectual-property piracy and counterfeiting," said John Engler, president of NAM. "By signing into law this important legislation, President Bush has sent a resounding message not only to businesses, workers and consumers, but also to those who would harm Americans through piracy of pharmaceuticals, auto parts, and health and safety products."

Major motion-picture companies lost $6.1 billion to piracy. Eighty percent, or $4.8 billion, was lost to piracy overseas and 20 percent, or $1.3 billion, in the U.S., according to LEK Consulting, which conducted a study commissioned by the Motion Picture Association of America.

Global music piracy causes $12.5 billion in financial loss and 71,000 jobs each year, according to the Institute for Policy Innovation.

Business representatives have also been vocal about the bill, including Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who urged Bush to sign the bill.

"Make no mistake though, our work doesn't end with this law, this administration or with this Congress," Donohue said. "We're leading a sustained, long-term campaign to build lasting support for intellectual property among current and future members of Congress and the next administration."

Opposition Moving Forward

While music and movie groups are cheering Bush's move, public-advocacy groups opposing the bill, including the Electronic Frontiers Foundation and Public Knowledge, were not happy.

"It would have been nice if the bill had not passed," said Art Brodsky of Public Knowledge, a Washington, D.C.-based digital-rights group that has strongly opposed the bill. "The bill is signed and we'll just move forward to balance it with the orphan-works bill. ... We'll just have to see what it looks like next year."

Orphan-works legislation could expand the ability of technology users, archivists and libraries to store and exhibit works whose owners can not be found.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been outspoken about the bill, saying copyright laws often fail to distinguish between commercial counterfeiters and the average person. EFF also said the figures for lost revenue and job loss are "cartoonishly large."