Why Hasn't The Report Debunking Entire US Foreign IP Policy Received The Attention It Deserves?

from the questions-to-ponder dept

We've written a few times now about the really astoundingly detailed and impressive research report from the Social Science Research Council. It effectively debunks the entire premise behind the US governments foreign IP policy, which focuses almost exclusively on ratcheting up enforcement. The report -- all 440 pages of it -- systematically details why such ratcheting up of enforcement does not, can not and will not help, but shows how alternative business models and pricing models seem to work much better.

We've questioned why the US government seems to be ignoring the research, and Reuters blogger Felix Salmon has picked up on this, calling it "the best report ever on media piracy," and bemoaning the fact that it's been almost entirely ignored.

The most depressing aspect of this report is the fact that it doesn’t seem to have caused anything like the splash that it deserves. It’s an astonishing work of cooperative international scholarship, and really ought to fundamentally change the debate about intellectual-property enforcement in arenas with names like WIPO and USTR. But I fear that it’s too sensible and empirical for that. If the Obama Administration isn’t welcoming this report with open arms, then I fear no one will.

Indeed. It's really quite depressing. Perhaps it's because the report is so long? I've noticed that those who disagree with it in our comments haven't even bothered trying to take on any of the detailed and thorough analysis in the report itself, preferring instead to mock those of us who are talking about the report. I find this troubling. As someone who believes very strongly in taking in all research and data to better understand something, it seems troubling that when so much effort and research has gone into such a report, critics are writing it off completely without even a cursory analysis of it.

But even more troubling is the fact that the press and our elected officials have mostly been ignoring this as well. I think it's a shame that this report hasn't received much more attention, and I'm going to start sending copies to various elected officials to see if I can get comments on it. Hopefully, many of you will do the same.

Filed Under: business models, intellectual property, piracy
Companies: ssrc