Howard Coble

Mr. COBLE

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Roanoke Valley, Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte). (Mr. GOODLATTE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, may I ask the Chair how much time I have remaining.

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I would say that the gentleman from California (Mr. Berman), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and are in agreement to work to address this matter.

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in strong support of H.R. 1554, the Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999. Countless hours have been dedicated to fashioning the satellite provisions of this legislation, balancing the interest of our constituents, intellectual property owners, satellite carriers, and the local broadcasters. I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to congratulate Members of both the House and the Senate for their hard work and dedication in bringing this legislation to fruition. Time does not permit me to call each Member by name, so I will just reiterate what my friend from Louisiana said and thank all of them who had a hand in contributing to the formulation of this package. We have spent the past 3 years working on this legislation, and I can say without hesitation, Mr. Speaker, that this is, indeed, a very good bill. The legislation will have a tremendously beneficial effect on the citizens of this country, whether they are subscribers to satellite television or not. We have all been concerned about a lack of competition in the multichannel television industry and what that means in terms of prices and services to our constituents. The bill gives the satellite industry a new copyright license with the ability to compete on a more even playing field, thereby giving consumers a chance. I have received numerous letters and calls from my constituents, as I am sure many of my colleagues have from theirs, distressed over their satellite service. Many customers claim they leave the store complaining they cannot obtain their local stations through satellite service. Others feel betrayed when they have their distant network service cut off, having been sold an illegal package from the outset. Still others have been outraged at the cost they pay for the distant network signals. The time has come to address these concerns and pass legislation which makes the satellite industry more competitive with cable television. With competition comes better services at lower prices, which makes our constituents the real winners. With this competition in mind, the legislation before us makes the following changes for the Satellite Home Viewers Act. It reauthorizes the satellite copyright compulsory license for 5 years. It allows new satellite customers who have received a network signal from a cable system within the past 3 months to sign up immediately for satellite service for those signals. This, as my colleagues know, is not allowed today. It provides a discount for the copyright fees paid by the satellite carriers. It allows satellite carriers to retransmit a local television station to households within that station's local market, just as cable does. It protects existing subscribers from having their distant network services shut off at the end of the year, and protects all C-band customers from having their network service cut off entirely. It allows satellite carriers to rebroadcast a national signal of the Public Broadcasting Service. It provides an incentive for the development of a system to bring local signals to smaller, mostly rural areas and markets. It empowers the FCC to conduct a rulemaking to determine the appropriate standards for satellite carriers concerning which customers should be allowed to receive distant network Signals. The legislation before us today is a balanced approach, Mr. Speaker. It is not perfect, like most pieces of legislation, but it is a carefully balanced compromise. It removes many of the obstacles standing in the way of true competition yet does not reward those in the satellite industry for their obvious illegal activities concerning a distant network signal. The real winners, Mr. Speaker, are our constituents, the consumers. I urge all Members to support this constituent-friendly legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COBLE

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton), the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McIntyre) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) were most obviously affected in our delegation. I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones).

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I was not even going to get into this, but since my friend from North Carolina mentioned it, that it would be politically motivated, I think we are comparing the timeliness with which we hear from the administration. In September of 1989 when Hurricane Hugo battered the Carolinas, President Bush requested disaster relief and it was provided by this Congress. This relief was signed into law less than 2 weeks after the hurricane struck. That was my point. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes). (Mr. HAYES asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Burr).

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Myrick).

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Roukema).

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, may I ask of the Chair the amount of time I have remaining.

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today, Mr. Speaker, in support of this resolution. Between September 14 and 17 of this year, Hurricane Floyd ravaged the East Coast, depositing 18 inches of rain on sections of North Carolina, which had not yet begun to recover from the damages brought by Hurricane Dennis only 2 weeks earlier. It is my understanding, Mr. Speaker, that over 72,000 North Carolinians have registered for Federal disaster assistance. Yet 6 weeks after the disaster, the 11 States that were declared disaster areas continue to await Federal aid. The Congress is not equipped nor tasked with the responsibility of assessing and estimating natural disasters. This is the job of the executive branch in conjunction with the States. As such, we depend on its expertise when trying to respond to tragedies of this nature, and that is what has brought us here today. President Clinton visited North Carolina almost 5 weeks ago and promised our folks there that, We would help them every step of the way. Well, Mr. Speaker, our folks are still waiting for this help. The resolution before us today requests that the President immediately transmit to Congress the President's recommendations for emergency response actions, including appropriate offsets, to provide relief and assistance to the victims of Hurricane Floyd. I certainly hope this request does not fall upon deaf ears, because the individuals victimized by this disaster are desperately waiting for our help. Now, on the issue of offsets, some folks up here, Mr. Speaker, call me a Johnny-One-Note when it comes to the subject of imprudent spending. But when I look at the natural disasters that have plagued our Nation in the last few years, I become frustrated that we have such a difficult time helping our own folks but can find billions of dollars to send overseas for matters such as Kosovo. Now, I think Kosovo spending is appropriate to mention regarding this resolution, because funds which have already been spent for the Kosovo effort would likely address the needs of the thousands of suffering eastern North Carolinians. But, unfortunately, that fiscal horse is out of the barn. In the future, I hope that we in the Congress, and President Clinton, will carefully and deliberately approach involvement in foreign conflicts prior to spending American taxpayer monies imprudently and recklessly. As many people know, I was an ardent opponent of our involvement in Kosovo from the very beginning. And this operation, which has cost $6.5 billion, not including what we spent for operations in Bosnia and Haiti, would have adequately addressed the needs of the people of North Carolina, and most of those in other disaster-designated areas along the Eastern Seaboard. If our government, Mr. Speaker, and I hate to be this critical, but if our government would behave like most American families and save for a rainy day, we would not be standing here 6 weeks after the disasters have wiped out eastern North Carolina begging the President to send us his request. But here we are. And I hope and pray, Mr. Speaker, that before the next 6 weeks pass, the Clinton administration will send us a package so that we can evaluate it and assist our citizens who so desperately need our help. Finally, Mr. Speaker, I do not want to let this opportunity pass without expressing thanks to the United States Coast Guard for the outstanding job they did. Right now these men and women are working day and night on search and recovery operations resulting from the downing of Egypt Air Flight 990. During Hurricane Floyd, Mr. Speaker, Coast Guard men and women risked their lives to rescue people across eastern North Carolina. And not unlike other Members in this body, I believe this great service that they provide to our country is often overlooked, and I want to recognize that to that end. I hope, Mr. Speaker, that this Hurricane Floyd problem can be resolved quickly and appropriately. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COBLE

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on House Resolution 349, the resolution just considered.

Mr. COBLE

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3028) to amend certain trademark laws to prevent the misappropriation of marks, as amended.

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cannon), a member of the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Shaw).

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire of the remaining amount of time.

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Rogan), the author of the bill.

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3028, the Trademark Cyberpiracy Prevention Act, is a very important and significant piece of legislation, and I rise in support of it as a cosponsor. Over the past 2 years, the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property, through a series of oversight hearings, has become very aware of the problems faced by owners of famous marks when dealing with the issue of domain names. Time and time again we heard stories of cyberpirates who registered numerous domain names containing the markings or trade names of American companies, only to hold them ransom in exchange for money. Sometimes these pirates will even put pornographic materials on these sites in an effort to increase the incentive for the trademark owner to protect the integrity of its mark. The time has come, Mr. Speaker, for this practice to stop. Imagine, if you will, that you own a small company and have spent years investing and delivering the good will of your business, only to find out when you go to register for a domain name that someone else has misappropriated your trademark name. To make matters worse, you are informed that your legal options are limited, even if the offending party has placed pornographic or hateful materials on the site with your name on it. This is an unacceptable situation, and should not be allowed to continue. This is a measured and balanced response to a growing problem, and I would like to commend the gentleman from California (Mr. Rogan) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Boucher) for their leadership in this area, as well as the gentleman from California (Mr. Berman), the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property. The legal recourse provided for in this legislation, combined with the alternative dispute resolution procedures being adopted by the domain name registrars, will give trademark owners important tools to protect their intellectual property. I am unaware of any opposition to the manager's amendment, and I urge a favorable vote on H.R. 3028. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3028, the ``Trademark Cyberpiracy Prevention Act,'' is a very important piece of legislation. Over the past two years, the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property, through a series of oversight hearings, has investigated the problems faced by owners of famous marks when dealing with the issue of domain names. There have been many evidenced accounts of cyberpirates who register numerous domain names containing the marks of tradenames of American owners only to hold those names ransom in exchange for money. In some accounts, these pirates have placed pornographic materials on these sites in an effort to increase the incentive for the trademark owner to protect the integrity of its mark. This legislation is intended to stop this practice. H.R. 3028 is a measured and balanced response to a growing problem, and I would like to commend Mr. Rogan and Mr. Boucher for their leadership in drafting this bill. The legal recourse provided for in this legislation, combined with the alternative dispute resolution procedures being adopted by the domain name registers, in conjunction with recommendations by the World Intellectual Property Organization, will give trademark owners important tools to protect their intellectual property. The following is a section-by-section analysis of H.R. 3028 which will serve as legislative history for the amendments adopted today.

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, as usual, the gentleman from California (Mr. Berman) is a jump ahead of me. I was going to also acknowledge the good work done by the respective staffs. It has been a good effort by all concerned.

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. COBLE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)