IP McCarthyism?

In a speech at an opening ceremony for a university project in Karlsruhe, Germany, Professor Lawrence Lessig reportedly received thundering applause when he warned that we are living in an era of "IP McCarthyism".

Although his remarks were apparently directed at Arlene McCarthy, the rapporteur for various other intellectual property directives before the European Union, the word "McCarthyism" also carries connotations of false, even hysterical, accusation.