Information Feudalism: Who Owns the Knowledge Economy?
The definitive account of how multinational corporations have seized control of intellectual property rights.\ \ In a few short years, the battle over intellectual property rights has emerged from obscurity to become front-page news. The continent-hopping, three-year court battle fought by activists to bring cheap versions of desperately needed AIDS drugs to South Africa is but one example of how this seemingly arcane area of international regulation has become a crucial battleground in the...
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The definitive account of how multinational corporations have seized control of intellectual property rights.In a few short years, the battle over intellectual property rights has emerged from obscurity to become front-page news. The continent-hopping, three-year court battle fought by activists to bring cheap versions of desperately needed AIDS drugs to South Africa is but one example of how this seemingly arcane area of international regulation has become a crucial battleground in the twenty-first century and is animating activists the world over.This powerful book is the definitive history of how the new global intellectual property regime—the rulebook for the knowledge economy—came to be. Drawing on more than five years of research and more than five hundred interviews with key figures—including negotiators for First and Third World countries, leaders of multinational corporations, and public-interest experts, Information Feudalism uncovers the story of how a small coterie of multi-national corporations wrote the charter for the global information order.Information Feudalism is an authoritative history of the demise of the world's intellectual commons, and a potent call for democratic property rights. Publishers Weekly Economic scholars Drahos and Braithwaite painstakingly trace the history of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the international accord that has become a standard for resolving disputes over intellectual property rights, whether over bootleg videocassettes or unlicensed use of patented pharmaceutical processes. As corporations increasingly recognize copyrightable or patentable knowledge as a source of profit, they've exerted political influence to ensure that the financial reins stay within their hands. The authors clearly show how lobbyists from the entertainment industry, for example, use their clout with Washington to exert pressure on foreign markets so the U.S. industry can reap the most from films and compact discs. But these government-sanctioned "patent regimes" have resulted in an economic imbalance, which Drahos and Braithwaite depict as a "threat to liberty," where developing countries cannot afford access to medicine and technology without resorting to piracy. The authors carefully explain how copying software or making cheaper versions of patented drugs became equated with plunder on the high seas. There's frequent potential for digression, but the book stays resolutely focused on the diplomatic and corporate sides of the story, showing how less powerful countries had their interests pushed aside during the treaty process and have been reduced to dealing with a handful of intellectual property exporters who grow wealthy off poorer countries' dependency; the exporters also stifle creativity by their emphasis on exploiting economic advantage from intellectual property. The detailed account of negotiations and sanctions is highly academic, perfect for policy wonks but potentially alienating for general readers. (May 15) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
PrefaceChronology of Key EventsAcronyms and Abbreviations1Introduction12Piracy193The Knowledge Game394Stealing from the Mind615The Illusion of Sovereignty746The Bilaterals857Agendas and Agenda-setters: The Multilateral Game1088Persuasion and Principles1219At the Negotiating Table13310Biogopolies15011Infogopolies16912Democratic Property Rights18713Resisting the New Inequality19814On the Importance of the Publicness of Knowledge210Notes220Index243
\ Publishers WeeklyEconomic scholars Drahos and Braithwaite painstakingly trace the history of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the international accord that has become a standard for resolving disputes over intellectual property rights, whether over bootleg videocassettes or unlicensed use of patented pharmaceutical processes. As corporations increasingly recognize copyrightable or patentable knowledge as a source of profit, they've exerted political influence to ensure that the financial reins stay within their hands. The authors clearly show how lobbyists from the entertainment industry, for example, use their clout with Washington to exert pressure on foreign markets so the U.S. industry can reap the most from films and compact discs. But these government-sanctioned "patent regimes" have resulted in an economic imbalance, which Drahos and Braithwaite depict as a "threat to liberty," where developing countries cannot afford access to medicine and technology without resorting to piracy. The authors carefully explain how copying software or making cheaper versions of patented drugs became equated with plunder on the high seas. There's frequent potential for digression, but the book stays resolutely focused on the diplomatic and corporate sides of the story, showing how less powerful countries had their interests pushed aside during the treaty process and have been reduced to dealing with a handful of intellectual property exporters who grow wealthy off poorer countries' dependency; the exporters also stifle creativity by their emphasis on exploiting economic advantage from intellectual property. The detailed account of negotiations and sanctions is highly academic, perfect for policy wonks but potentially alienating for general readers. (May 15) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.\ \
