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Antigua May Be Allowed To Violate US Copyrights
Skleed refers us to the NYTimes for an article on the high-stakes case the US is losing before the World Trade Organization. So far the US has lost an initial hearing and two appeals on its policies regarding Antiguan offshore gambling sites. Now the lawyer pressing the case has asked for a rarely invoked, but codified, recourse under WTO rules: letting Antiguans copy and distribute American music, movies, and software. The game may be to get Hollywood and Microsoft, et al., to pressure Washington to cut a deal. But their influence may not be sufficient to move lawmakers on the question of online gambling. From the article: "But not complying with the decision presents big problems of its own for Washington. That's because Mr. Mendel, who is claiming $3.4 billion in damages on behalf of Antigua, has asked the trade organization to grant a rare form of compensation if the American government refuses to accept the ruling: permission for Antiguans to violate intellectual property laws by allowing them to distribute copies of American music, movie and software products, among others."
So I assume the US banned gambling in other countries via the net because the govt wasn't getting a piece? Is that the bottom line? Or is there another reason?
yeah, and no research more advanced than finger-painting
Just because the lawyer representing Antigua has requested this method of penalizing the US for violating WTO rulings doesn't mean the WTO would actually allow it. I don't recall anything in that article that even hints at the WTO following that line of reasoning.
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
Can you imagine a place in the world with no such thing as IP rights and regulations? It would be an information hotspot like the world has never seen. You want music/movies/files, you got them, on demand, piped through a broadband connection. It's like a geeky vacation spot, with uber-souvenirs.
Allowed by the WTO. I will mean that if Antigua did pirate US stuff, the US would not be able to get the WTO to apply any sanctions. Which is pretty much all they could do, as Antigua is not in the Us and it would be awfully hard to convince anyone that you need a new war just cause of some pirate DVDs.
# cat
Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
I assume buying the stuff in Antigua would be legal, but anything bought in Antigua (or on the internet from Antiguan sources) would remain illegal. So, if you want to enjoy your "geek hotspot", you'd actually have to physically BE in Antigua. It's legal to buy and sell Cuban cigars in other countries, but that doesn't make the legally obtained cigars any more legal to possess in the U.S.
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Considering the US has a long history of not complying with WTO rulings that don't suit them, I am surprised that they would even try this method; even if the WTO were to rule in their favour, they know all too well that the WTO is all bark and no bite.
Yeah, and far fewer publishers/production companies/etc willing to take the risk of financing art because they're less able to make a return on it. Fewer people able to make a living from their art, so fewer people having time to create art. But hey, the art that does get made would be free, sweet!
Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
It's not a "violation" of anything if it's all officially sanctioned. Just another way of redistributing copyrights to the people of Antigua.
"I'm a Laver, not a Phyto[plankton]"
That's right. Worldwide support for the US has never been so high; were Antigua to incur the wrath of America, the EU and Asian countries would just back off and completely ignore Antigua. The US is the world leader in these things, right?
You are making an assumption that producers/publishers backing is necessary to create art.
There was a time when this was at least mostly true. But now it is entirely possible for anyone to create high-quality music, photography, and (almost, we're still working on this one) movies with digital tools, and to distribute this art, along with their novels, short stories, poetry, theatrical scripts, and just about anything else you can think of, over the internet for little to nothing.
Why do you think we still need the middle-men (publishers, record companies, etc)?
The creator of this post (Jacob Smith) hereby releases it, and all of his other posts, into the public domain.
But you will be when you come back.
From OFAC: Important Changes Effective June 30, 2004
Rules for family travel have changed. There is no longer a general license for travel to Cuba for family visitation. All family travel now requires a specific license from OFAC issued on or after June 30, 2004. Specific licenses for family travel issued by OFAC before that date are no longer valid. Specific licenses are granted only once every three years and allow visitation of immediate family only (parents, spouses, siblings, children, grandparents, and grandchildren). The length of stay in Cuba is limited to 14 days. Travel expenses authorized for family travelers is reduced to $50 for each day spent in Cuba and an extra $50 per trip for transportation within Cuba if needed. Family travelers may also carry one $300 quarterly remittance for immediate family in Cuba.
Cuban cigars, rum and other Cuban goods are no longer authorized for importation as accompanied baggage. Except for information and informational materials, no travelers (whether traveling legally under an OFAC license or traveling without a license) are authorized to import Cuban origin goods into the United States unless specifically licensed by OFAC to import such goods. The general license that formerly authorized licensed travelers returning from Cuba to import up to $100 worth of Cuban goods has been removed. Such goods should now be seized as imports contrary to law pursuant to 31 C.F.R. Part 515. Information and informational materials that are exempt by law to this prohibition include books, magazines, films, posters, photographs, microfilms, tapes, CDs, records, works of art, etc. (Blank tapes and CDs are not information materials and remain subject to seizure.)
The general license for travel to Cuba for amateur athletics has been removed. This travel now requires a specific license.
Fully hosted travel is no longer an exception to the embargo.
Information about the Cuba Embargo may be obtained from OFAC's fax-on-demand service at (202) 622-0077 code 1201 or our website at www.treas.gov/ofac. You may also call OFAC's Enforcement Division at (202) 622-2430.
Wouldn't that be just digging the hole deeper - Antigua is a WTO member and as such the other nations would be violating their treaty obligations if they caved to such pressure.
This is not remotely similar to the issue with the International Criminal Court. The ICC is an organization that the United States has simply declined to join. That's not some kind of "exemption".
Not that the US hasn't sought or received such exemptions in the context of other international organizations, but the US has no legal obligation of any kind to participate in the ICC. Some people feel that the US should feel a moral obligation, but this is unlikely as long as nations like China and Russia continue to also abstain from membership.
I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
Much more likely a congresscritter cast a vote because of some reward factor than some bogus moral imperative based on the critters ethics.
There is no right to feel safe thru security vaudeville at the expense of everyone's freedom, privacy and tax money.
That's not cynical at all; it's just a fact. When I write a letter to my Congressman (Burgess, an administration stooge), that's not called lobbying; it's maybe "petitioning" or "wasting ink" if you prefer. If there's a campaign contribution attached, or some kind of expensive perk, that's lobbying. Since lobbying makes use of material rewards to help get the message across, it's merely a legal form of bribery.
I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
Bringing in software that is in the public domain is not illegal (unlike pot). The WTO will effectively give Antigua the right to replace GPL with any license it wants: antigux.
Doesn't work that way. If I stole a car in the US and drove it to Mexico, it'd still be stolen, and driving it back into the US doesn't make it mine. The only place the code is in the public domain is in Antigua, you can't "launder" it by shipping code there and bringing it back, since it'd still be copyrighted outside of Antigua.
the problem is that even when in deficit, the US has incredible economical and financial muscle.
Well, except, of course, when China threatens to crash our currency. Then we start licking their balls very nicely since we've been completely sold out to them by the current pack of thieves in Washington.
Treaties only have meaning if their signatories either have sufficient personal honor to not violate them or are made to pay from any such violations by an external party. Since countries have no personal honor, on the account of not being persons or comparable entities, and since the US - the benefactory of the treaty violation in this case - is the strongest country on Earth, the treaty isn't worth the paper it is written on, since at least a clean piece of paper can be used to write something menaingful.
The US can violate any and all treaty with impunity for the simple reason that there is no one on this planet capable of punishing it for such violations. It's that simple. That's why the various governments making deals with the US are, frankly, idiots; they don't get anything, but almost certainly have to give up something.
Please not that this is by no means a problem with the US alone; international treaties in general depend on the goodwill and good faith of their participants, and both have historically been in very short supply.
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
Not so. Without copyright law, the entirety of the GPL is unenforcable. This isn't about legal / illegal wares, this is about ownership of code. No copyright law means that I can take GPL source code in Antigua, strip off the license, and re-publish it in my own name.
Let me see if I get this straight...
In the US, gambling on overseas casino websites is banned while certain domestic gambling websites (OTB, online lottery tickets) are allowed to operate. Antigua, where online casinos thrive, argues that the US policy is harming their trade. The WTO rules that the US must either all ow all forms of online gambling or ban all forms of online gambling.
Should the US disregard the WTO ruling and not allow US citizens to use overseas casino websites, Antigua would be granted the following as compensation: "permission for Antiguans to violate intellectual property laws by allowing them to distribute copies of American music, movie and software products, among others."
Isn't that like saying "Well, if I'm not allowed to sell to Peter, I'll steal from Paul to compensate!"? (Overlook the whole copyright-violation-isn't-stealing issue on this, and grab hold of the concept of stealing from an unrelated party as compensation.)
Government's idea of a balanced budget: take money from the right pocket to balance...oh who am I kidding?
In other words: Why do these guys hate us so much?
Post tenebras lux. Post fenestras tux.