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WTO Awards Caribbean Country Right to Ignore US Copyright
The WTO's recent ruling on Antigua's complaint against the US over the banning of online gambling resulted in a payment to the island nation much less than they asked for. It appears, though, that this payment was just part of the WTO's compensation package for Antigua/Barbuda. Via Kotaku, the Hollywood Reporter notes that the Caribbean country can now freely ignore US copyright laws - legally. This dispensation is apparently limited to some $21 million a year. "The WTO often takes decisions awarding trade compensation in cases where one nation's policies are found to break its rules. But this is only the second time the compensation lets one country violate intellectual property laws. In this case, Antigua will -- in theory -- be allowed to distribute copies of American DVDs, CDs and games and software with impunity. 'That has only been done once before and is, I believe, a very potent weapon,' Antigua's lawyer Mark Mendel said. 'I hope that the United States government will now see the wisdom in reaching some accommodation with Antigua over this dispute.'"
That's a crock of shit then. It's not our fault or problem that nobody has bothered to setup online horse racing in your country. As long as any horse racing business from these nations is treated the same as a domestic outfit I really fail to see what the problem is.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
There are already european and asian companies that simply don't trade in the USA anymore. And they're doing fine. The USA is ceasing to matter. The ONLY thing keeping them relevant is their vast military. And while the USA spends more on military than the rest of the world combined, it really can't hope to win WWIII, spending more money on something doesn't mean it's actually better.
You know what, I don't want the USA to matter. I don't care about the EU, the WTO, Germany, France, or whoever else, and I see no reason that any American should. People accuse Americans of being ignorant of world affairs, and really, Americans are just smart about it. There's nothing in Europe worth knowing.
After 40 years of witnessing American involvement on the other side of the world, I have decided that there is absolutely no point to the other side of the world. It's the same as it always was, a bunch of old people with old ideas stuck in old ways doing old things. When people say, "we have to be in NATO to defend Europe", it's not even a question of "from what" any more, but "why?". I fail to find one European value where an American value is not better. The whole continent is a cultural wasteland, producing nothing of significance. 30 million American blacks have had more impact on the arts than nearly a billion Europeans have, over the last 100 years.
This is my sig.