GATT, IPR and privacy

[rishab at dxm.ernet.in]

cactus at bb.hks.net (L. Todd Masco)
[talking about Brad Templeton, copyright and remailers]
> This is why GATT bothers me.  Once we have have an alignment of property
> laws, particularly IP laws, there's no telling how things will fall.

I don't see why countries will protect IPRs universally and efficiently any 
more than they implement the ratified treaties on privacy, human rights etc.

True, China has of late been rather busy with sprucing up its IPR protection
("chop off their heads!") in response to US pressure, much more than it did
when the US complained about human rights. But raiding big companies and
software pirates is different (and far cheaper) than tracking down all 
forwarded copies of AP stories. 

One can even imagine a world where China refuses to crack down on the ILA's 
hypothetical Beijing outfit (which could save Chinese companies lots of money 
in an information economy) out of concern for their 'human rights to privacy'!

That apart, their are some phenomenal advantages to being run by a slow,
out-dated bureaucracy (in China, or India) rather than a Freeh country such as
the US where the authorities try harder to keep up with their Cypherpunk 
enemies... I've said before that if my mail is read, it's not by Indian spooks
but by the NSA!


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Rishab Aiyer Ghosh             "Clean the air! clean the sky! wash the wind!
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