IP (was Re: Martin Mayer)

[Chuck0]

Doug Henwood wrote:
> 
> Mikalac Norman S NSSC wrote:
> 
> >novice needs help: what is "IP"?
> 
> Intellectual property, specifically the protection of - shorthand for
> things like copyright, trademarks, patents, etc. The U.S. government
> is extremely hot to tighten up IP protections through the WTO and
> other international forums, to protect our computer, software, drug,
> and entertainment industries.

The rest of the story is the most interesting part. Who do they want to
protect IP from? Well, that would include the rabble musicians who want
to bypass the music industry, the Napster addicts, the free software
coder, the writers who aren't interested in money, and the indigenous
people who are understandably upset that their local ecosystem is being
pirated away from them.

Chuck0
Anti-copyright 2000