A different kind of war : Internet databases and legal protection or how the strict intellectual property laws of the West threaten the developing countries’ information commons

Canellopoulou-Bottis, Maria (2004) A different kind of war : Internet databases and legal protection or how the strict intellectual property laws of the West threaten the developing countries’ information commons. International Review of Information Ethics.

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Abstract

[English abstract]

This paper describes intellectual property legislation in the European Union, the US and the Draft Treaty on the legal protection of unoriginal databases, usually available in the Internet. I argue that this type of legislation, if enforced upon developing countries and countries in transition through international "agreements", could in effect deprive them of their own information commons, their own public domain. With examples from China, India, Africa and Iceland, I argue that this deprivation in the case of developing countries is, morally, equal to a virtual war against them by the West, wholly unjustified and dangerous-an example of virtual imperialism.

Keywords:	Legal protection, databases, intellectual property, developing countries
Subjects:	H. Information sources, supports, channels. > HL. Databases and database Networking. E. Publishing and legal issues. > ED. Intellectual property: author's rights, ownership, copyright, copyleft. E. Publishing and legal issues. > EE. Intellectual freedom.
ID Code:	12729
Deposited By:	Tsakonas, Giannis
Deposited On:	15 February 2008
Alternative Locations:	http://ssrn.com/abstract=952882
All fields:	Show all fields

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