Bush to appoint chief pirate hunter

Wire services: Bush to appoint chief pirate hunter.

President George Bush said he would appoint Chris Israel, deputy chief of staff at the Commerce Department, to coordinate efforts to force China and other foreign governments to crack down on the piracy of movies, music and software.

The creation of the position of Coordinator of International Intellectual Property Enforcement at the Commerce Department is a response to claims by American technology and movie companies that fake copies of their copyrighted goods cost them billions of dollars a year in lost revenue.

``This is a good opportunity to have one person working on intellectual property, and coordinating all the different agencies,'' said Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.

Israel's top priority will be piracy and counterfeiting in China, said Gutierrez. Israel is a former executive for New York-based Time Warner.