Information Feudalism: Who Owns the Knowledge Economy?

Economic scholars Drahos and Braithwaite painstakingly trace the history of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the international accord that has become a standard for resolving disputes over intellectual property rights, whether over bootleg videocassettes or unlicensed use of patented pharmaceutical processes. As corporations increasingly recognize copyrightable or patentable knowledge as a source of profit, they've exerted political influence to ensure that the financial reins stay within their hands. The authors clearly show how lobbyists from the entertainment industry, for example, use their clout with Washington to exert pressure on foreign markets so the U.S. industry can reap the most from films and compact discs. But these government-sanctioned "patent regimes" have resulted in an economic imbalance, which Drahos and Braithwaite depict as a "threat to liberty," where developing countries cannot afford access to medicine and technology without resorting to piracy. The authors carefully explain how copying software or making cheaper versions of patented drugs became equated with plunder on the high seas.