Antigua Files for Remedies- $3.4 billion per year in intellectual prop

[Richas]

[ QUOTE ]
Antigua and Barbuda requests authorization from the DSB to suspend the application to the United States of concessions and related obligations of Antigua and Barbuda under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (the “GATS”) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the “TRIPS”).

[/ QUOTE ]

In summary: we hit trips on the turn.

The divergent approaches of Antigua and the EU (plus Brazil and India) are interesting here because between the two approaches we get maximum pressure on the US.

Antigua has gone for IPR and or cash, the EU for other trade concessions. The assumption seems to be that the EU will prioritise farming, I doubt this is the case, the EU wants access to the US for third world farmers (partly to reduce pressure on access to their own market) but the EU is trying to reduce direct farming subsidies in both the US and EU. Boeing would be top of many's list but the concessions are a shopping list, they can go for Boeing then Microsoft then someone else. In the steel dispute some quite bizarre and local items were included by both sides to maximise political pressure on key opponents.

If we identified the top 5 anti gambling politicians and then identified the local businesses (or donors) that are important to them we would have a short list for the EU concessions to add to the shopping list.

[Jay Cohen]

[ QUOTE ]
If we identified the top 5 anti gambling politicians and then identified the local businesses (or donors) that are important to them we would have a short list for the EU concessions to add to the shopping list.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's exactly how the EU did it iin the FSC case. they targeted industries by Congressmen.

Antigua doesn't have as many options beyond IP but it will work fine.

[Richas]

[ QUOTE ]
That's exactly how the EU did it iin the FSC case. they targeted industries by Congressmen.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dirty business politics (and international trade) isn't it? LOL.
[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[TheEngineer]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If we identified the top 5 anti gambling politicians and then identified the local businesses (or donors) that are important to them we would have a short list for the EU concessions to add to the shopping list.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's exactly how the EU did it iin the FSC case. they targeted industries by Congressmen.

Antigua doesn't have as many options beyond IP but it will work fine.

[/ QUOTE ]

Speaker Pelosi voted for HR 4411, and I believe Sen. Boxer and Sen Feinstein oppose us. I wonder how these Californians will feel about the new legally pirated movies.

[autobet]

[ QUOTE ]
I wonder how these Californians will feel about the new legally pirated movies.

[/ QUOTE ]

They are big time Johnny Depp fans

[JPFisher55]

Even if the US ignores the WTO and does not agree to billions in sanctions or trade reprisals, unless the US withdraws from the WTO, then the Wire Act and UIGEA conflict with a properly ratified international treaty.
This conflict is cited in two of the allegations in the iMEGA litigation as grounds for injoining enforcement of these two laws.
Perhaps these compensation claims and the WTO rulings will mean more in a US federal court than in the USTR or Congress.

[redbeard]

Very informative thread guys and it sounds like very good news for the online community. Does anyone have a realistic time frame for how long it will take the U.S. Congress to be forced to react to this?

[Skallagrim]

[ QUOTE ]
Very informative thread guys and it sounds like very good news for the online community. Does anyone have a realistic time frame for how long it will take the U.S. Congress to be forced to react to this?

[/ QUOTE ]

Though its possible for them to act right away, as long as Bush is in office (consider the trade rep's actions so far), nothing will be finalized.

It also ought to take a year or two before the exact amount the US must pay is known. The only exception to this would be if (when?) the WTO allows Antigua to ignore copyright and other intelectual property rights. That could happen sooner and have a very dramatic and even immediate effect (on Congress anyway, probably still wont make a difference to Bush though: hundreds of billions sunk in Iraq and over 3,000 lives and he still cant admit he has made even a small mistake along the way...).

The short answer to your question: 6 months to 3 years.

Skallagrim

[WarmonkEd]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If we identified the top 5 anti gambling politicians and then identified the local businesses (or donors) that are important to them we would have a short list for the EU concessions to add to the shopping list.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's exactly how the EU did it iin the FSC case. they targeted industries by Congressmen.

Antigua doesn't have as many options beyond IP but it will work fine.

[/ QUOTE ]

Speaker Pelosi voted for HR 4411, and I believe Sen. Boxer and Sen Feinstein oppose us. I wonder how these Californians will feel about the new legally pirated movies.

[/ QUOTE ]

The filing mentions Industrial Designs and Patents. Isn't that way more significant than the mere billions of "lost" revenue that might come from pirating dvds and music?

[daedalus]

What a confused state of U.S. public policy. This is going to take years to resolve the conflicts in federal law, WTO position, Justice Dept stance, International Treaties, and state laws. This is a friggin' mess, with no elegant solution. unreal.