Even As US Continues To Push Stronger Intellectual Property Laws Through Trade Agreements, It Ignores Those Agreements At Home
from the good-for-the-goose dept
Even as the US tries to ratchet up patents, copyrights and trademarks in international trade agreements, talking about how it's essential to protect the US's interests, it's amazing how the US ignores those same agreements at home. For years, we've talked about the still ongoing situation with Antigua, where the US was clearly found in violation of trade agreements, but has refused to do anything about it (other than unilatterally changing the free trade agreement in question in its own favor).But that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Other countries are complaining that the US has lost at a variety of hearings in front of the WTO (handling disputes over those trade agreements) and then proceeded to ignore those rulings entirely.
“The conduct of the United States unscrupulously discredits the WTO dispute settlement system and also constitutes an affront to the intellectual property rights,” an ambassador from Cuba said today at the WTO.The article lists out a bunch of countries all complaining that, while the US keeps pressuring them to adopt strict IP laws, the US routinely ignores the same clauses in the various free trade agreements it signs.
At a WTO Dispute Settlement Body meeting today, a number of WTO members fired shots at the US delegation for its continued failure to change its laws to comply with WTO rulings that found it out of compliance on intellectual property-related issues.
“It is very ironic to observe the United States projecting laws on intellectual property, despite keeping violations as egregious as Section 211,” under which the Bacardi Company continues to market rum labelled Havana Club, a mark which is otherwise owned by Cuba and partners. “This is one of the most famous cases of trademark counterfeiting and conducting misleading advertising by a company backed by the US legislation.”And while a number of the countries complaining obviously have other issues with the US (Cuba, Venezuela), it's not just those countries. The EU also has complained that the US has been ignoring various agreements.
Even the 27-member European Union weighed in on the Section 211 case, thanking the US for its report and adding the hope that “US authorities will very soon take steps towards implementing the DSB ruling and resolve this matter.” The EU also urged that the US comply with another IP case – Section 110(5) of the US Copyright Act – which involved the US commercial practice of playing music recordings, such as Irish music, aloud in bars without paying royalties. “We refer to our previous statements that we would like to resolve this case as soon as possible,” the EU said.Of course, the proper response to all of this isn't just putting more pressure on the US to change its laws to comply, but a more basic solution: stop agreeing to "intellectual property" issues in trade agreements. The US has now made it abundantly clear that it will pressure countries into rules that go against its own best interests and then will ignore any rules that go against its own interests. So the most basic response is that the US is clearly not trustworthy on "intellectual property" in trade agreements, and other countries should refuse to include such provisions in any agreement with the US. Don't reward hypocrisy and bullying by allowing the US to do more of the same.
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Filed Under: cuba, eu, hypocrisy, intellectual property, trade agreements, us, venezuela, wipo, wto
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Sincerely,
The US Government
(owned and operated by the MPAA and RIAA)
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What's kind of ridiculous is the fact that the US is indebted to China thanks to their wars and Bush's tax cuts. But don't tell the rest of the world why we're taking such a hard stance against them similar to the Cold War of the 50s- 80s. But that's another story for another time.
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Expect to see 500% inflation, riots in the streets, and rampant poverty and unemployment in the US once we lose out on being the favored currency of exchange by continually bullying other nations. It may not happen in the next few years, but if and when it does, it's going to make the Mortgage and Financial crisis look like a minor nick while shaving compared to having the throat slit wide open with a straight razor....
So to speak (not advocating violence, just using it as an example)...
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To many sheep in the USA so let us try to Educate them.
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wto
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Ok,,
Its always been that way.
IF the USA had to pay ROYALTIES on gun powder, and all subsequent creations from it, BASED on gun powder..do you THINK the USA would?
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TRADE AGREEMENTS
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No trust here...
The US wants unilateral positioning as the only superpower in the US yet it won't play nice.
On every level, the US government's positioning is incredible...
On the international level, it ignores it's obligations while trying to exploit other countries.
Within the US, it comports to do what one industry wants over the needs of other industries that are disrupting it.
On the state level, it continues to allow monopolies that only allow the select few to benefit.
And on an individual level, it goes after the weakest citizens instead of protecting them.
We don't live in a democratic republic... We live in an aristocracy that only caters to the rich and powerful and that's problematic in how the US enforces laws that only serve Hollywood or the largest corporations instead of everyone.
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i think its more like this now :
"that the US is clearly not trustworthy."
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they say voting makes a difference but if the voting is rigged it means NOTHING.
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EU
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