With the U.S. Special 301 Report set for release today, Consumers International has released its own IP Watchlist. This list of 16 countries found that consumers benefit most from the laws in India and South Korea, while the UK is the most restrictive. It also noted that the U.S. applies a double standard, with "far more flexibility for U.S. consumers than for people in the countries they criticize."
Consumers International Releases IP Watch List
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Hardly too surprising
The US double standard is hardly surprising. From what I have seen, the USTR list is a means to put media pressure on governments who haven’t caved into signing a side agreement with the US government on IP. Since the idea appears to be, in these cases, advancing and protecting the US “cultural” industry (rather than the artists), the simplest way to do this is to get countries to sign onto this to put in place restrictions that wouldn’t fly politically at home.
Sue these guys… in Canada
Canadian libel laws are lawsuit-friendly and should be used to sue those who spread lies about Canada internationally. Short of this, those US officials should be banned from entering Canada.
The inverse is the converse
Does it surprise anyone that the most favorable ratings from “Consumers International” are the countries with the worst performance on IP? And since “Counsumers International” seems to be concerned about “access to knowledge” for lesser developed countries, exactly how does having a pirate copy of Wolverine help lesser developed countries be knowledgeable? About what, mutants?