US Says 4.3 Billion People Live With Bad IP Laws

bowser100 writes "The US government has released its annual Special 301 report (PDF) in which it purports to identify those countries with inadequate intellectual property laws. Michael Geist digs into the report, noting the list is so large that it is rendered meaningless. According to the report, approximately 4.3 billion people live in countries without effective intellectual property protection. Since the report does not include any African countries outside of North Africa, the US is effectively saying that only a small percentage of the world meets its standard for IP protection."

Comments

Hey Leaders of MY Country

[BJ_Covert_Action]

Dear Leaders of My Country,

Do you remember how, when you were young and in grammar school, and didn't have a lot of responsibility, every student seemed to be able to cope with school and even enjoyed it? Do you remember how, as you got older, and your peers got older, more responsibility was expected of you? Do you remember how, as this responsibility was expected, there were some kids in the class that couldn't handle it very well? Do you remember how some of those kids, even though they generally got good grades and got along with teacher at a younger age, started doing poorly in school as it got harder? Do you remember how there was always one or two of those kids that, instead of bucking up and working harder, threw temper tantrums every time something didn't go their way? Remember how, at first, that was intimidating to all of the other kids on the playground that were smaller than the underachievers, but, as time went on, the rest of the kids stopped taking the immature kids seriously? Remember how, if the immature kids became too much of a burden and bully, the other kids would sometimes gang up on the bully and put him in his place through the sheer force of numbers?

Do any of you remember any of that? I do. I remember feeling embarrassed for the immature, incompetent kids as they fussed and screamed and acted out because things weren't going the way they wanted, even though everyone else was moving along just fine. Most of those kids, that I knew, are now alcoholics or dead because they couldn't cope with a dynamic reality.

Do you think there is a lesson to be learned from those days back in school?

Sincerely,
A Terribly Embarrassed United States Citizen.