Posted on 07/31/2008 8:45:45 AM PDT by bs9021
America’s Unknown Competitive Edge
by: Daniel Smith, July 30, 2008
Believe it or not, America not only has not lost its competitive edge in the world, but, in at least one key sector, has achieved an advantage. For Pfizer, Inc., which employs 85,000 employees, intellectual property (IP) “is the foundation of [their] ability to discover and develop innovative new medicines,” the company CEO Jeff Kindler told a congressional committee. A generation ago, according to Kindler, Europe produced eight out of ten drug innovations. Today, however, America produces eight out of ten.
Kindler encapsulated the importance of IP in a formula: IP = innovation = competitiveness = jobs. But, in order for America to keep its economic edge, Kindler made specific suggestions for Congress: enforcement, strong IP and anti-counterfeiting provisions in trade agreements, and lengthening data exclusivity.
On July 15, the Senate Committee on Finance met to discuss “International Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights and American Competitiveness.” Chairman Max Baucus insisted that “America’s creative ideas can succeed” by innovation, competitiveness, protection of ideas, fair application of laws, and the fostering of future ideas. But part of the problem, explained Baucus, is that global patent and copyright laws are “uneven at best” and “all-too-frequently go unenforced.” This is particularly disturbing for America’s economy since intellectual property (IP) industries account for “18 million...high-paying jobs” and “40 percent of [America’s] economic growth.”
Baucus was not alone in his concern. Andrew Lack, Chairman of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, addressed the problems of “piracy wars.” Both the “physical marketplace” and the “online marketplace” have created a “piracy phenomenon.” According to Lack, “multinational criminal syndicates” produce and distribute “counterfeit products” while “avoiding punishment” through “bribery and other forms of corruption.”....
(Excerpt) Read more at campusreportonline.net ...
The inability to protect intellectual property from thieves, both foreign and domestic, is what has ripped the cornerstone out from under America’s economic greatness. While we provide a perfect lab for incubating creative genius, we stop well short of protecting the economic incentives due the sources of innovation, both on the corporate an individual level. What we have in its place is a “steal now, perhaps get caught later” attitude, which puts the small innovator at a distinct disadvantage by having to pay the legal cost of the fight. This has been killing the American economy for years now. Microsoft, anyone?
Does *BILL* know you're posting this?? /sarc>
These f-tards deserve every bit of this problem.
Cheers!
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