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2006

Series

Intellectual Property Law

Texas A&M University School of Law

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Law

Anticircumvention And Anti-Anticircumvention, Peter K. Yu Sep 2006

Anticircumvention And Anti-Anticircumvention, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

In today's debate on digital rights management systems, there is a considerable divide between the rights holders, their investors and representatives on the one hand and academics, consumer advocates, and civil libertarians on the other. These two groups often talk past each other, concocting their own doomsday scenarios while arguing for laws and policies that vindicate their positions. Unfortunately, neither side has sufficient empirical evidence to either support its position or disprove its rivals'. As the digital economy grows, the debate intensifies, and the divide between the two sides widens. Today, there has emerged an urgent need to find the …


From Pirates To Partners (Episode Ii): Protecting Intellectual Property In Post-Wto China, Peter K. Yu Apr 2006

From Pirates To Partners (Episode Ii): Protecting Intellectual Property In Post-Wto China, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

In "From Pirates to Partners: Protecting Intellectual Property in China in the Twenty-First Century," I criticized the ineffectiveness and short-sightedness of the American foreign intellectual property policy toward China. As I argued, the coercive approach taken by the U.S. administrations created a "cycle of futility" in which China and the United States repeatedly threatened each other with trade wars, only to back down in the eleventh hour with a compromise that did not provide sustained improvements in intellectual property protection.

Since I wrote that article five years ago, China has joined the WTO and undertook a complete overhaul of its …


Trips And Its Discontents, Peter K. Yu Mar 2006

Trips And Its Discontents, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

The TRIPs Agreement was established at the ministerial meeting in Marrakesh in April 1994. Since its establishment, many less developed countries have become dissatisfied with the international intellectual property system. From their perspective, the system fails to take into consideration their needs, interests, and local conditions. The strong protection mandated by the Agreement also threatens their much-needed access to information, knowledge, and essential medicines.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the TRIPs Agreement. It provides an excellent opportunity to assess the Agreement's achievements and shortfalls, in particular its impact on the international community as well as on other areas …


Of The Inequals Of The Uruguay Round, Srividhya Ragavan Mar 2006

Of The Inequals Of The Uruguay Round, Srividhya Ragavan

Faculty Scholarship

Ten years ago, the TRIPs Agreement set a distinct tone in international law by requiring members to prioritize international trade obligations as a means to achieve national goals. Within the next five years, the AIDS crisis highlighted that compromising pressing national responsibilities - like a looming public health crisis - to fulfill international obligations may, in fact, detrimentally affect international trade. Meanwhile, access to medication continues to be an unresolved issue even as we celebrate the tenth anniversary of TRIPs and the end of the transitional period. This Article suggests that the success of TRIPs depends on its ability to …


Of Monks, Medieval Scribes, And Middlemen, Peter K. Yu Mar 2006

Of Monks, Medieval Scribes, And Middlemen, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

Today's copyright debate has generally focused on the digital dilemma created by Internet and new media technologies. Threats created by emerging communications technologies, however, are not new. Throughout history, there have been remarkable similarities between the threats created by new technologies and those posed by older ones.

During the oral argument in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., Justice Stephen Breyer questioned whether the petitioners' counsel would apply the test proposed for the new technology to some once-new technologies, such as the photocopying machine, the videocassette recorder, the iPod, and the printing press. When the counsel quickly responded in the …