Former IP czar to head software lobby group

Victoria Espinel, who led intellectual property enforcement for the federal government, will take over as president and CEO of BSA | The Software Alliance, a trade group that represents software companies.

Espinel was the first U.S. intellectual property enforcement coordinator in the Office of Management and Budget. The post was designed to align the work of law enforcement organizations, federal agencies, private companies and foreign governments in preventing and prosecuting intellectual property theft and infringement. Often likened to a "copyright czar," the job was established by Congress in 2008 and first staffed under the Obama administration.

BSA supports intellectual property protection and the advancement of cloud computing on behalf of commercial firms, including Adobe, Intel, IBM, Apple, Microsoft, Oracle and many others.

Espinel figured prominently in two industry agreements designed to thwart intellectual property theft. In July of this year, her office announced a deal among leading online content and advertising companies, including Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, to reduce the flow of ad revenue to websites that attract audiences by posting pirated material. In 2011, Espinel helped broker a deal between Internet service providers and entertainment companies to allow ISPs to disrupt the service to individuals suspected of pirating music and movies using peer-to-peer networks.      

She has won plaudits from copyright activists and industry for her work. Gigi Sohn, president and CEO of the open Internet group Public Knowledge, said Espinel "Understood the importance of balance and fair use in copyright policy -- these were not merely buzzwords for her."

Before taking on the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator post, Espinel served as the assistant U.S. trade representative for intellectual property and innovation during the George W. Bush administration.