[LINK] Gittins on IP and the FTA

[rchirgwin at ozemail.com.au]

 From Saturday:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/23/1090464859797.html?oneclick=true

A handy entry-level overview. Some snips:

 >The thing to get clear from the outset is that IP is an unnatural act. 
It is a
 >government intervention in the market granting to inventors, innovators
 >and creators a legislated monopoly over their invention for a certain 
period.
 >Others cannot use or copy it without their permission. Thus IP rights are
 >fundamentally anti-competitive.

 >In which case, why do governments grant them? To encourage more 
invention,
 >innovation and creativity - the stuff of technological advance that 
improves
 >productivity and makes us prosperous.

....
 >Since the World Trade Organisation's Uruguay Round in the early '90s,
 >the Americans have made stronger worldwide protection of IP rights one
 >of their highest priorities in trade negotiations.

 >Why are they so obsessed with IP? Because they are the world's biggest
 >exporter of music, movies, computer games, software, drugs and thousands
 >of other patented items. And because their trade names - Levi Strauss,
 >McDonald's, Coca-Cola - are highly valuable.
...
RC