For a little light reading, the office of the United States Trade Representative's special 2006 report on piracy, including discussion of the two treaties on copyright protection online.

And the material at WIPO itself, including links to the treaties.

The increasing importance of international lawmaking bodies in the area of technology is both promising and alarming. Alarming, because the United States is an outlier in areas such as free speech, and is likely to be outnumbered going forward. Also interesting and maybe alarming, because when treaties are being negotiated the policy side is driven by officials from the executive branch rather than from the legislative branch (though the latter come in later during ratification). And finally promising because greater uniformity of law regarding commerce from the Law Merchant, to Admiralty Law, to the Uniform Commercial Code, has been a cornerstone of gains in trade and higher standards of living. But also alarming because competition between jurisdictions (especially in matters such as tax policy) and the mobility of capital helps to protect the private sector from overreaching by the public sector. All in all, something to watch.

posted by Solveig Singleton @ 11:14 AM | International

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