ACT III - Open Up!
There is a global movement afoot - a movement to own ideas. This is not the natural state of things - it is a new phenomenon. Indeed, the concept of Intellectual Property - the notion that ideas can be owned the same way physical goods can - is a relatively new one. While first mentioned in an 1845 patent case, it wasn't until the establishment of the World Intellectual Property Organization, in 1967, that the term began to get any traction.
As global corporations become ever more powerful, they have increasing power to dictate to other countries how they should feel about the ownership of ideas. Through the United States Trade Representative, groups like the International Intellectual Property Association actively "blacklist" countries which do not meet their standards of protection. If these countries want to trade with the US and its allies, they must get on board.
And it is not simply a matter of music and movies - genetic information, medicine, food, oral histories - the basic building blocks of human civilization are being auctioned off to the highest bidder, who can then restrict and censor how this information is used.
This trend, however, is being resisted by some. This act will examine those two forces in opposition.
