IPac Strategy

IPac is a political action committee (or PAC) that is dedicated to creating balanced intellectual property policy. We support U.S. Congressional candidates who will be advocates for the public interest in debates over copyright and patent law, technology regulation, and other IP-related issues. IPac focuses on getting better, smarter, tech-savvy legislators into office while coordinating with other groups who engage in litigation, activism, and regulatory work.

Legislation: The first task in changing the law is figuring out who supports what. We are therefore creating a scorecard to rate legislators based on their voting records on issues that relate to free expression and innovation on and off the web.

Outreach: Any political strategy requires an organized constituency group. IPac's constituency is a mix of artists, technologists, organizers, lawyers, coders, and interested citizens. We have crafted a statement of principles, and we are seeking people who support them to sign up and join the cause of innovation and free speech. Aside from seeking to explicitly politicize interested citizens, we will work with partner organizations who engage in litigation, activism, and regulatory work to complement their policy goals by connecting their efforts to the electoral process.

Education: IPac will craft educational campaigns that build awareness about the public's side of the copyright debate, and how electing the right legislators can help protect free expression and innovation.

Political Impact: IPac will pursue a political strategy to unseat incumbents who support bad law, and support challengers who advocate for the rights of the public to use participatory technology in culture and politics. We will use polling, issue advertising, and direct donations to political candidates. IPac is nonpartisan - we will work within Democratic and Republican primaries and/or general elections, and attempt to extract maximum free media through innovative messaging and guerrilla marketing strategies.