Jim DeLong is recently back from a trip to Tokyo and Seoul. He freely admits he speaks neither Japanese nor Spanish (they're using translation headsets like the UN here at our Digital Americas conference in Buenos Aires), but his discussion of IP, standards and interoprability is a universal one. Cultural norms impact the policy aspect of IP (he reminded the attendees here about how the Japanese are known for consensus and cooperation and notes this colors IP protection there) but he made a compelling argument about how the source of innovation is shifting and how IP is becoming its own form of capital (see his recently published Progress Snapshot on these topics).