The Rise and Decline of the Intellectual Property Powers

Yu, Peter K. "The Rise and Decline of the Intellectual Property Powers." Campbell Law Review 34 (2012): 525-578.

From the report: "In the past decade, China has experienced many impressive economic and technological developments. Intriguingly, the narrative about piracy and counterfeiting there is rarely linked to the narrative about the China's technological rise. To provide a more comprehensive picture, this article brings together these two different narratives to explore what their combination would mean for the United States and its intellectual property industries. 

Delivered as the keynote luncheon address at the Symposium on "Applications of Intellectual Property Law in China," this article begins with the good news that China is at the cusp of crossing over from a pirating nation to a country respectful of intellectual property rights. It draws on the historical developments of intellectual property protection in the United States and other once-developing countries.

The article then delivers the bad news that, even though China will finally experience improvements in the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights when it hits the proverbial crossover point, such improvements will bring some disappointments and unintended consequences.

In light of both the good and bad news, the article offers suggestions on three types of policy changes that could help prepare U.S. industries for the identified challenges. It specifically discusses changes at the domestic, bilateral and multilateral levels. Noting the challenges of making prognostications, this article concludes by suggesting that the United States may still have some time and wiggle room to decide its course of action for the near future." Read more

Digitization, Innovation, and Copyright: What is the Agenda?

Greenstein, Shane, Lerner, Josh, and Scott Stern. "Digitization, Innovation, and Copyright: What is the Agenda?" Strategic Organization 11 (2013): 110-121.

From the report: "This essay discusses the need for research on the consequences of digitization, as well as the impact of alternative policies governing the creation and use of digital information. This agenda focuses on the development of research to investigate the economics of digitization, to analyze the governance of intellectual property in this sector, particularly through copyright, and to pioneer approaches to analyzing measurement of digitization. This agenda overlaps with many related open questions in organizational and strategy research." Read more

'Copyright World' and Access to Information: Conjoined Via the Internet

Sebastian, Tania. "'Copyright World' and Access to Information: Conjoined Via the Internet." Journal of Intellectual Property Rights, 17 (2012): 235-242.
 

From the report: "Access to information, despite wide intellectual acceptance, is still a struggle for many in various quarters of the world. In today’s era there exist constraints in the way information is shared; dividing continents based on the way information is accessible to its people. This paper strives to understand the underpinnings of the accessibility to information in the human rights perspective, with a special mention of the current debate on the accessibility of the Internet on the lines of concepts which constitute emerging access to knowledge coalition. The arguments of the present paper take the following form: it begins with an introduction to the oft-debatable access to information question; goes on to elucidate the view of various scholars on why information needs to be free and extends the aspect of freedom to information to the human rights paradigm; then expounds the activism of ‘access to knowledge’ advocates for access to information; and finally talks about European Union’s legalization of access to information on the internet as a ‘fundamental right’ before the conclusion." Read more

New Study Affirms Less Copyright Restrictions Benefit the Economy, Amid Renewed Calls for SOPA 2.0

Tim, Trevor. "New Study Affirms Less Copyright Restrictions Benefit the Economy, Amid Renewed Calls for SOPA 2.0." Electronic Frontier Foundation, September 21, 2012.

From the report: "A new study from Australia presents the latest evidence that loosening copyright restrictions not only enables free speech, but can improve an economy as well. The study, published by the Australian Digital Alliance, indicated that if Australia expanded copyright exceptions like fair use, along with strengthening safe harbor provisions, the country could potentially add an extra $600 million to their economy." Read more

See also
"Potential $600m Annual Economic Boost From Copyright Reform."  Australian Digital Alliance, September 2012.

EU and US Eye Privacy in Parallel

Callahan, Mary Ellen.  "EU and US Eye Privacy in Parallel."  The Lawyer Group, September 17, 2012

From the blog:  "For almost two decades, a myth has been circulating that the European Union’s approach to privacy and data protection is “stricter” than the sectorial approach the US employs. In my experience, both as a privacy lawyer and as chief privacy officer for the Department of Homeland Security, the two region’s approaches have more in common than the myth would suggest. Both approaches to privacy are grounded in the concept of fair information practice principles (FIPPs)." Read More

Censorship V3.1

Bambauer, Derek E. "Censorship V3.1." (September 9, 2012). Arizona Legal Studies Discussion Paper No. 12-28.

From the abstract: "Internet censorship has evolved. In Version 1.0, censorship was impossible; in Version 2.0, it was a characteristic of repressive regimes; and in Version 3.0, it spread to democracies who desired to use technology to restrain unwanted information. Its latest iteration, Version 3.1, involves near-ubiquitous censorship by democratic and authoritarian countries alike. This Article argues that the new censorship model involves four changes: a shift in implementation to private parties; a hybrid approach mixing promotion of favored viewpoints with suppression of disfavored ones; a blend of formal mandates with informal pressures; and a framing of censorship using uncontroversial labels. It suggests a set of responses to censorship that cabin its abuses and push it towards more legitimate methods: focusing on governmental restrictions, insisting on labeling censorship as such, supporting distributed Internet governance, demanding a default right of access to information, and addressing corporate involvement. " Read more