While we are all focused on the economic roller coaster, the vilification of Barack Obama, and the latest Sarah Palin scandals, President Bush quietly signed into law the creation of a cabinet level “Copyright Czar” to protect companies from infringement on their intellectual property. While it would have been nice to see Bush veto this, the blame lies with Congress and the influence of industry lobbys.

This new Czar, on par with the Drug Czar (and hasn’t that been so effective), exists solely to protect the profits of a very narrow slice of corporate America. It was driven primarily by the music and movie industry to crack down on illegal file sharing. Can someone explain why this requires a federal cabinet position? We certainly don’t have cabinet officials for most other types of crimes. Certainly not for crimes that are much more dangerous and damaging to citizens or the country. Why is there no Treason Czar or Child Abuse Czar? Is the reality of college students swapping digital music files really a security risk?

Yes, this costs companies (and their shareholders) money. While I might argue that this is more about defending obsolete business models than enforcing useful laws, I’m okay with enforcement of IP laws as long as they are still on the books. Although given the prevalence of file sharing, the reality is that file sharing is more like speeding. Everybody does it, and while the laws forbid all of it, enforcement is typically only used to prosecute egregious violators. In that light, a czar seems a dramatic over reaction to a minor problem.

All hail the Czar. I can only hope Obama has the good sense to forget to fill this position.