A late entry today, very late. Consider it our “Midnight Follies,” rushed through at the last minute as favor to big business John Peel’s fans.

It’s the 30th anniversary of the great, great punk-era song, Teenage Kicks by the Undertones.

Which isn’t really that funny or follies-related. But the version by the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain is.

Ah, you think, how middle aged self-indulgent. And the Buzzcocks had more staying power.

But there’s an intellectual property rights angle, of great interest to manufacturers. Feargal Sharkey, the singer who defined the Undertones sound, is now a music executive in the U.K. And he’s in the news.

Former Undertones frontman Feargal Sharkey will launch a new organisation later today  (October 27th) aimed safeguarding the future of the music industry.The UK Music body will call on the government to address the problem of illegal file sharing, as well as extend the copyright term afforded to artists, which is currently limited to fifty years.

The organisation represents a wide range of music bodies, including, BPI, the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, and the Music Managers Forum.

“The thing we all realised is that we all agree with each other 95% of the time. It’s looking at where the industry is going to be three, four or five years from now,” Sharkey told the Guardian newspaper.

Wanna hold ya, wanna hold ya, wanna hold ya tight, get teenage-kicks and property rights! All right!

P.S. Wow. Everybody covers Teenage Kicks. A copyright violation?

</Start Rant>

Amongst the many erudite thoughts to drip from the quill of Thomas Jefferson, only one has ever gotten me hot under the collar:

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.

Well, that’s all fine and dandy if your estates keep you rolling in tobacco so you can crank out political philosophy all day (lifted, by the way, from the likes of Locke, Rousseau and Machiavelli), but if you’re the taper-maker, you’re going to be a little miffed if someone’s knocking off your products to the point that you’ve got to lay off your workers and people are suing you blind because fugazi tapers with your logos are burning down houses.

</End Rant>

This Monday, the White House signed into law the PRO-IP Act, which will go a long way in helping to curb the problem of counterfeit goods.  Unfortunately, what most folks who watch this area of the law see is a piece of legislation to loathe as much as they loathe the music industry, as something that might impede them from enjoying the media they want, regardless of whether they paid for it or not.  So whineth the pundits at Portfolio.com:

But how much will the new law, the PRO-IP Act, actually do to combat digital piracy? Is it the silver bullet the music business needs to save an industry that is shrinking by hundreds of millions of dollars per year? My answers: Not much, and no.

Nay, nay, dear heart: lift your angry eyes from your iPod and see that this legislation is much bigger than Britney.

This legislation isn’t to save the record industry; it’s to make sure the government is doing it’s job to protect consumers.  It’s to make sure that the replacement parts in your car are legit, and don’t end up causing horrific accidents.  It’s to make sure that the medications you take are legit, and don’t end up killing you.  Most importantly, it’s about saving American jobs (I put concern of country above my own personal well-being, but that’s just me).

Luckily, there are folks out there that get it.  Stephen Koff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reminds us of the stakes:

Ohio companies including Gorman-Rupp Co., a Mansfield pump manufacturer, and Dana Corp., a Toledo maker of auto parts, could benefit if the bill stops foreign companies from stealing their engineering, packaging and sales literature.

So could Ford, Bendix and smaller companies such as Will-Burt Co. of Orville, whose sales of a lighting system in China declined from $1 million in 2001 to less than $250,000 in 2004 after a Chinese company that was supposed to market Will-Burt products there started selling Will-Burt knockoffs instead.

The bill, pushed by Ohio Republican Sen. George Voinovich for several years, grew out of complaints by businesses that found themselves competing with illegal, foreign-made products that looked just like their own — down to the UPC codes in some cases.

Well, we’re thankful for heroes like Sen. George Voinovich who are looking out for American manufacturers and workers, as well as Sens. Leahy, Specter and Bayh, who also were the original champions of the legislation.  They understand that it’s about protecting the small and medium businesses that keep our families employed and our economy going - despite the best efforts of mortgage speculators.

As for Mr. Jefferson?  Ironically enough, he was our first pirate hunter, going after the Barbary Pirates.*  So I guess he did know the value of property and commerce.

* Being a Trekkie geek from Boston, it titilates me to no end that he sent both the USS Constitution and the USS Enterprise to throw a Bean-Town beat-down on the Pasha of Tripoli.

The White House has just reported that President Bush today signed the PRO-IP bill, S. 3325, which improves the federal coordination of enforcement of intellectual property protection laws. The Administration had some objections to the legislation, so the signing is good news, indeed.

The NAM had made this a “key vote” issue in Congress. From our letter to the House:

Intellectual property (IP) is the cornerstone of our nation’s economy - U.S. IP is valued at between $5 trillion and $5.5 trillion, equivalent to approximately 45 percent of U.S. GDP. Unfortunately, IP theft in the U.S is responsible for more than $250 billion a year in lost sales and the loss of a significant number of high-paying manufacturing jobs. As such, it is a vital matter for manufacturers, as well as for U.S. workers and the government.

Moreover, the effect of piracy and counterfeiting on consumers poses a far greater concern. Counterfeiting often poses serious health and safety risks to the general public through sub-standard pirated products, including automobile parts, airplane parts, food, medical devices, electrical supplies and pharmaceuticals, to name but a few.

As a founding member of the Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy, the NAM has worked closely with Congress, policymakers and stakeholders in all sectors affected by IP theft to confront this serious challenge. NAM member companies believe strongly that by improving the coordination of federal government IP enforcement resources, as well as expanding authorities and improving enforcement practices at the international, federal, state and local levels, the PRO-IP Act will strengthen our manufacturing economy.
 

UPDATE (5:10 p.m.): The White House has just e-mailed out a fact sheet highlight the Administration’s support for innovation and its efforts to combat global IP piracy and counterfeiting. It’s 5:10 p.m. on a federal holiday. Sigh.

Anyway, here it is …

Warning: Clip Contains Profanity, Irony

Rap Rock/Southern Rock/Country Rock/Nu Metal aficionados will appreciate the Detroit Cowboy’s special attention to the moral health of American kids.  Intellectual property holders will cherish his satirical take on the crisis of counterfeiting and piracy afflicting the nation, if not his colorful language.

UPDATE:  Humorless software execs, angry fashion designers, seen headed towards Michigan.  Check back often for breaking news.