[I]n the face of new technologies and competition, the US is toughening patent and copyright protections. It's leaning on other countries - and its own citizens - to play by ever tighter rules. But if it's not careful, the US will drive its intellectual property offshore into a shadow world that . . . is replete with piracy and rogue states . . . .
[There is a] gulf between IP owners, with their rigid sense of controls, and those who would seek to use that intellectual property with all the flexibility afforded by technology - the Internet, in particular. And that's not just a difference of opinion, it's a technological generation gap. As Intel chair Andy Grove recently told The Washington Post, the US needs to reassess its conception of intellectual property "for an era that is the information age as compared to the industrial age."
Interesting thoughts from Thomas Goetz via Wired Magazine, found here. (via Calblog)