Maybe It's All Just a Case Like Africa

Lessig presented the example of HIV-medication being prevented from reaching Africa because of the extra-fees placed by patenting costs. Lessig lauds the patent system as a means of encouraging scientific innovation though he also recognizes the ways it can be mis-used. What is more shocking is the presentation of its effects on the global scale- India could not import the drugs to Africa because America's invocation of the patent prevented it. This stood out to me because of the international aspects of IP regulation it brings to mind. Ultimately the world is becoming more and more interconnected and now more than ever international legal systems are coming into contact with each other. Consider also that President-Elect Obama wants to combat piracy in China but if it's not illegal or at the least if it's not policed there do we have the right to enforce our laws there? This all really brings to mind the murkiness of IP in that as much as IP legislation needs to modernize here so too must it modernize on a global scale. Reconsider our discussions of configurable culture... if one can sample music from around the globe how do we police that or license it? More than anything I think that IP can not b e looked at as property. I've realized more than ever that concrete property and intellectual property are hardly the same thing. They can not be treated that way because I can't really share my house with AIDS victims in Africa-that statement might sound silly but it's a simple iteration of this idea. We're holding onto things that don't really benefit from this level of security. There's a difference between innovation and fencing-in. I realize now more than ever this distinction... IP legislation should allow for innovation but not for over-propertization... there is no reason to draw up borderlines.