On 30 January 2013 12:12, Richard Symonds
<richard.symonds(a)wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
Very interesting things happening in Antigua and the
US:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21247683
Essentially, the World Trade Organization (WTO) have ruled that the islands
have the right to suspend US intellectual property rights. It all stems
from a trade dispute in 2003, where the US effectively banned electronic
interstate gambling, which in turn damaged Antigua's economy."
This has led to one thing and another, and "...on Monday the WTO's dispute
settlement body gave final authorisation for Antigua to sell movies, music,
games and software via a store that would be able to ignore US copyright
and trademark claims."
I'm not sure what this means for the movement - I'm sure there will be a
long and lively discussion - but it's a very interesting turn of events in
IP law.
I believe that option has always been on the WTO's list of remedies.
It has no way to force sovereign countries to pay anything, so this
kind of thing is the only way it can enforce the rules. I'm not sure
how many times it has used that particular power.