• Wired, Monday, September 29, 2008 10 AM

U.S. lawmakers approved the creation of a cabinet-level position of copyright czar as part of intellectual property legislation that sailed through the Senate on Friday. However, a measure allowing the Justice Department to sue copyright infringers on behalf of Hollywood and the music industry was removed after the White House lobbied against it.

The intellectual property measure was strongly backed by the recording and movie industries, unions, manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Entertainment companies say they lose billions of sales a year to piracy.

"This is a win for America's innovators, whose jobs rely on intellectual property, and consumers who depend on safe and effective products," says Tom Donohue, chamber CEO.

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