Another week, another controversial intellectual property enforcement bill hits Capitol Hill. This time, it’s called the IP Attaché Act, and while a draft bill has been released so far, it hasn’t officially been introduced in Congress.

The bill, its proponents say, "streamlines" the process of intellectual property enforcement abroad. Meanwhile, opponents charge that this is wholly unnecessary, given the myriad of federal agencies that already do this, in addition to the fact that this bill has been drafted in secret.

Some media outlets have charged that this new bill is a way to re-introduce SOPA, the controversial bill that died in Congress earlier this year. Indeed, this bill is sponsored chiefly by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), who also was one of the primary architects of SOPA.

Strong copyright for all

According to the draft, the law would "establish an intellectual property attaché program by appointing and placing intellectual property attachés in United States embassies or diplomatic missions in countries where the activities of such an attaché are likely," and that this person would direct enforcement mechanisms as dictated by the United States Trade Representative.

Those officers would then ultimately report to a new Commerce position, called the "Assistant Secretary for Intellectual Property," which would be appointed by the President. This person would be tasked with "[advancing] the intellectual property policy of the United States, consistent with the economic interests of the United States, both domestically and abroad."

The bill appears to further endorse a strong copyright point-of-view that the American government has become notorious for pushing around the world.

Opponents say new bill unnecessary

Public advocacy groups, most notably Public Knowledge, said there were plenty of federal entities that deal with IP regulations.

"We already have, to name a few examples, an Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, Office of Intellectual Property Rights at the Department of Commerce, Office of International Intellectual Property Enforcement at the State Department, Office of the Administrator for Policy and External Affairs–Enforcement at the Patent and Trademark Office, National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, Office of Intellectual Property and Innovation at the United States Trade Representative, and Intellectual Property Task Force at the Department of Justice," the organization wrote on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a Judiciary Committee aide to Rep. Smith wrote in an e-mail to Ars that the bill is certainly not a follow-up to SOPA.

"The bill that the Committee currently is working on is a narrow piece of legislation to ensure better use of Patent and Trademark Office funds," the e-mail states, adding that a new draft would be circulated soon.

"The current draft increases organizational efficiency at the PTO and moves the IP attaché program squarely within the PTO to ensure direct accountability of the IP attachés."