As President Barack Obama's first 100 days whiz by, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, ranking member Arlen Specter, and Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and George Voinovich, R-Ohio, are pressuring the White House to make intellectual property protection a priority. The foursome who was the driving force behind last year's PRO IP Act, which former President George W. Bush signed in October, wrote to Obama last week urging him to nominate an IP enforcement coordinator. The position within the Executive Office of the President was created in their legislation and "can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the administration's efforts to protect American intellectual property," they wrote in a letter obtained by Tech Daily Dose.

Such an official can make a major impact in the fight against counterfeiting and piracy "but only if placed in an appropriate position of authority" inside the White House with adequate funding, the senators said. "Intellectual property rights promote innovation and creativity, long recognized as major drivers of the United States economy. Protecting intellectual property is therefore both a law enforcement objective and an important component of our economy recovery efforts," they wrote. CongressDaily reported shortly after Election Day that Victoria Espinel, a Democrat who served as the first assistant trade representative for IP, was a likely contender. Entertainment industry officials' names were also floated including Shira Perlmutter, a former associate general counsel for Time Warner.