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Peter Drahos
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Information Feudalism: Who Owns the Knowledge Economy? Hardcover – May 1, 2003

by Peter Drahos (Author), John Braithwaite (Contributor)
3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars 8 ratings
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In a few short years, the battle over intellectual property rights has emerged from obscurity to become front-page news. The continent-hopping, three-year court battle fought by activists to bring cheap versions of desperately needed AIDS drugs to South Africa is but one example of how this seemingly arcane area of international regulation has become a crucial battleground in the twenty-first century and is animating activists the world over.

This powerful book is the definitive history of how the new global intellectual property regime―the rulebook for the knowledge economy―came to be. Drawing on more than five years of research and more than five hundred interviews with key figures―including negotiators for First and Third World countries, leaders of multinational corporations, and public-interest experts, Information Feudalism uncovers the story of how a small coterie of multinational corporations wrote the charter for the global information order.

Information Feudalism is an authoritative history of the demise of the world's intellectual commons, and a potent call for democratic property rights.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    253 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    The New Press
  4. Publication date
    May 1, 2003
  5. Dimensions
    6.38 x 1.02 x 9.4 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    9781565848047
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1565848047
  8. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Economic scholars Drahos and Braithwaite painstakingly trace the history of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the international accord that has become a standard for resolving disputes over intellectual property rights, whether over bootleg videocassettes or unlicensed use of patented pharmaceutical processes. As corporations increasingly recognize copyrightable or patentable knowledge as a source of profit, they've exerted political influence to ensure that the financial reins stay within their hands. The authors clearly show how lobbyists from the entertainment industry, for example, use their clout with Washington to exert pressure on foreign markets so the U.S. industry can reap the most from films and compact discs. But these government-sanctioned "patent regimes" have resulted in an economic imbalance, which Drahos and Braithwaite depict as a "threat to liberty," where developing countries cannot afford access to medicine and technology without resorting to piracy. The authors carefully explain how copying software or making cheaper versions of patented drugs became equated with plunder on the high seas. There's frequent potential for digression, but the book stays resolutely focused on the diplomatic and corporate sides of the story, showing how less powerful countries had their interests pushed aside during the treaty process and have been reduced to dealing with a handful of intellectual property exporters who grow wealthy off poorer countries' dependency; the exporters also stifle creativity by their emphasis on exploiting economic advantage from intellectual property. The detailed account of negotiations and sanctions is highly academic, perfect for policy wonks but potentially alienating for general readers.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"An excellent and compelling account. . . . A fascinating read for anyone interested in how the rules of the global knowledge economy are set." ―Oxfam

"If you want to know the real politics behind the new property rights . . . read this book." ―Dr. Vandana Shiva, author of Biopiracy and Protect or Plunder

"An important contribution to the ongoing concerns about colonialism and its effects on the maintenance of access to ideas and to knowledge as a public good." ―College Research & Libraries Journal

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1565848047
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The New Press (May 1, 2003)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 253 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781565848047
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1565848047
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.28 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.38 x 1.02 x 9.4 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars 8 ratings

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Peter Drahos

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Customer reviews

3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5 out of 5
8 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

William
5.0 out of 5 stars The book points out the dangers and abusiveness of some intellectual property laws.
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2014
The book clearly shows how some intellectual property laws such as patents and copyrights can be abused and taken advantage of by some people. The book shows that the great dangers of some intellectual property laws are that competition suffers as a result. There are connections between information feudalism and medieval feudalism. The holder of the intellectual property may be in a position of central command in the market. Competition suffers as a result. Copyright, for example, is becoming an anti-innovation regime used to suppress the threat of changes that innovation begins. The bulk of intellectual property rights are not owned by their initial creators, but by corporations. Whenever an important commercial asset such as Mickey Mouse threatens to fall into the public domain because copyright protection is about to expire, ferocious lobbying often takes place to extend the term of the copyright protecting the asset.
4 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars a lot of information clearly laid out
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2004
I was amazed that I had not heard of this book until I picked it up at an academic bookstore.
The thesis of this book is (in part) that large corporations and media conglomerates have acquired a near monopoly on patents and copyrights that allows them to exploit the consumer and, more horribly, second- and third-world nations that desperately need drugs that US companies can provide for diseases like AIDS.
The book gives an excellent background of the history of these corporate structures and carefully defines its terms. It may be a bit dense and, at times, one wonders when they are going to get to their main point, but I, who was unfamiliar with the history of the "corporation," found the introductory material very enlightening.
As with all such problem-solution works, the problem is stated much more clearly than the solution, but I was impressed that the "solution" section wasn't "what you the individual can do to fight big business" but a call to larger organizations and governmental officials to reverse the trend toward patent and copyright monopoly.
I was, at times, skeptical of the authors' historical analogies and illusions, but perhaps that is because I study literature for a living and am always "deconstructing" such things.
12 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

loftwork
5.0 out of 5 stars Detailed analysis of the process by which patents and copyright became international currency
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 7, 2021
Verified Purchase
Good history of the development of international Intellectual Property law, particularly as it affected and controlled 3rd world access to essential technology. Having worked in semico for many years I recognised the efforts by predatory interests to control and own even ordinary mathmatical techniques, which resulted in the move to "Copyleft" and creative commons attributions.
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michelle
1.0 out of 5 stars Used sold as new
Reviewed in Australia on January 10, 2020
Verified Purchase
I bought this for my son who is doing a PhD and needed it urgently, when I received it it looked used but I didn't have time to send it back so I explained that I received it that way. He has just discovered now at a crucial junction that there are 30 pages missing. This will hamper him badly, I'm so angry!!
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Stephen
1.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2020
Verified Purchase
Quite mysterious how thos book is so widely referenced. Factually incorrect. Politically one-sided. The authors are basically just anti-property but not so much that their book is free!
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Zhazira
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 23, 2015
Verified Purchase
the book is easy to read, because of the organised structure + interesting case studies :)
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