Innovation Policy Post

In 2000, the World Intellectual Property Organization designated today, April 26, as World Intellectual Property Day, as it is the date on which the 1970 WIPO Convention entering into force.  This date serves as an occasion to raise awareness about and celebrate intellectual property. 

Senators Kerry and McCain introduced a privacy bill yesterday, that aims to protect consumers without unnecessarily burdening privacy industry. Privacy, trust, and innovation can go hand in hand and the Kerry/McCain bill is a great start to achieving that. Consumer privacy, however, is not the last word, and Congress must also act to strike a balance in government surveillance that reflects modern conceptions of privacy online.

Brussels – CCIA stressed the importance of the Internet as a platform for artists and entrepreneurs to create, innovate and reach new markets across the world in its comments on intellectual property enforcement for the European Commission. The Commission requested public consultation on the report on the application of the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED). IPR protection remains important, but the economic importance of European industries relying on legal exceptions and limitations to copyright, is quite often overlooked by lawmakers. A vibrant digital environment needs both.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services started accepting visa petitions for FY 2012 for highly skilled workers this month. Last week, the Immigration Policy and Enforcement Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee held its hearing, “H-1B Visas: Designing a Program to Meet the Needs of the U.S. Economy and U.S. Workers.” 

AT&T asserts that acquiring T-Mobile will allow it to roll out its next-generation wireless network.  However, what they don’t say is that the potential merger will actually delay, rather that precipitate AT&T’s (and T-Mobile’s) investment and expansion of its next-generation wireless network. 

This all seems eerily familiar.  AT&T uses JP Morgan’s money to buy-out up-start competitors.  The firm argues to antitrust authorities that its monopolist tendencies will provide the benefit of expanding connectedness to more Americans.  Thus, the argument went, elimination of competition was really for the public’s benefit.