Good editorial on how the US is entering into a treaty with Singapore that will require the US not to revise the DMCA.
The US has a long history of revising its copyright laws to "harmonize" with the Draconian provisions of foreign copyright, and going beyond foreign laws. Of course, then the foreigners revise their copyright to match and exceed ours, and the whole cycle starts again.
But this is a new one: we're setting up treaties with foreign powers that limit what our own Congress can do. What's more, we're setting up these treaties at a time when bills are being circulated on the Hill that would eliminate the worst provisions of the DMCA.
It's pretty sickening to watch the efforts of democratically elected lawmakers being undermined by petty bureaucrats who ride in the pockets of the entertainment lobbies.
(via Lessig)
