This thread is to discuss the matter of the article linked, namely intellectual property and the efforts of big companies to undermine it. And it seems we have to rely on leaks to be informed about such grave matters (this dependence could in itself fill an entirely new thread...).
[copyright] protection can be broken in the course of "lawfully authorized activities carried out by government employees, agents, or contractors for the purpose of law enforcement, intelligence, essential security, or similar governmental purposes".
I take it the TPP is so clearly wrong that nobody deems it even necessary to comment on that? All of you americans are concerned after all, and if it comes through, the rest of the world won't be long to follow..
There are different types of Intellectual Property.
Patents, trademarks and copyright all cover very different areas of IP. The quote you refer to, i.e
copyright protection can be broken in the course of "lawfully authorized activities carried out by government employees, agents, or contractors for the purpose of law enforcement, intelligence, essential security, or similar governmental purposes".
only refers to copyright matters and not trademarks or patents.
Therefore the governments wouldn't be "stealing ideas" as such. These exceptions to copyright are probably for the NSA and other such agencies who are bound to "illegally" copy some copyrighted material when they "listen in" on people etc. I don't personally think it's such a big deal to allow the government to cancel copyright for their personal use. It's not like they're going to start selling government-written books or records or movies, although that would probably have been something to look forward to.
Also, in terms of
the efforts of big companies to undermine [IP]
, I have to disagree very strongly with you, large corporations are the biggest generators of IP and are extremely keen to protect it. Google buying Motorola is a perfect example of this: they only bought the company to acquire its extensive IP portfolio. I would be ready to bet they are behind the push to extend the duration of patents and lower the global standards, two moves which if implemented will be problematic as they will have inevitable repercussions on competition and prices, especially with new technology stuffs.
