GLOBAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN INFORMATION: The story of TRIPS at the GATT

Abstract

The paper tells the story of how the US managed to secure an agreement, which heavily favoured it, on intellectual property at the GATT. This agreement has important implications for global information flows. Understanding this event, the paper argues, will help us to understand some of the mechanisms which operate to bring about global regulatory institutions. Coercion of some kind will be fundamental to the constitution of global regulatory orders.