Does anyone else find it appalling that the American government and American companies have the gall to complain about intellectual property violations in developing countries like China and India? Until the late 1800s, American IP law explicitly excluded foreigners from IP rights. That's right, forget about lax enforcement (like you often see in developing nations nowadays) - you could violate foreign IP rights in public view and not a thing would be done about it.
And that's exactly what Americans and American companies did - they went to Europe, took the latest IP, brought it back to America, and copied it. Charles Dickens went on a tour of America to try to get people to buy legitimate copies of his books, which no Americans were doing at that point. By the end of his tour, he realized this was a pointless venture, referring to America as a "nation of pirates". Doesn't sound that different from what contemporary American industry trade groups call China and India, does it?
And it wasn't just international - domestic IP rights violations were endemic as well. The reason the movie industry developed in California was because the movie studios (the same people that are now crying foul about copyright violations) were trying to escape Thomas Edison and his patents on moving picture technology. Not only was Edison's lab in New Jersey, distancing them geographically, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers California) took a more "relaxed" view of IP rights.
> In the 1800's the US was considered developed in comparison to other countries.
Not compared to Europe. There might have been some American inventions, but those paled in comparison to inventions from Europe. It wasn't until the late 1800s that things started to change.
> You can't compare developed vs developing using 2000s definitions and at the same time using 1800s definitions for IP laws.
> You have to be consistent, pick one era and compare everything using the same definitions.
For any sort of historical analysis, scientific levels of rigidity are impractical, because there isn't a large enough data set, so your point is moot.
You completely missed my point. The reason the US approved the abolition of slavery and women's suffrage has nothing to do with the reason it approved IP protection for foreigners.
The US approved IP protection for foreigners when Americans wanted to start having their copyrights protected in other countries - something that happened when it reached developed nation status. Now, the US is criticizing developing nations for taking the same approach for their own devlopment, and not respecting IP rights until they can afford to.
Not to mention that equating IP rights violations with acts such as enslaving people or not allowing them to vote is the epitome of absurdity.
> Nonsense. The US was born as a developed nation, it never had a period of time when it wasn't.
You really need to study history again. There was a big gap between Europe and the US that wasn't closed until the late 1800s. In terms of scientific discoveries (which are often closely tied to patentable discoveries), Europe (Germany, more specifically) continued to lead until WW2, when we broke their PhD lineage with Operation Paperclip.
And that's exactly what Americans and American companies did - they went to Europe, took the latest IP, brought it back to America, and copied it. Charles Dickens went on a tour of America to try to get people to buy legitimate copies of his books, which no Americans were doing at that point. By the end of his tour, he realized this was a pointless venture, referring to America as a "nation of pirates". Doesn't sound that different from what contemporary American industry trade groups call China and India, does it?
And it wasn't just international - domestic IP rights violations were endemic as well. The reason the movie industry developed in California was because the movie studios (the same people that are now crying foul about copyright violations) were trying to escape Thomas Edison and his patents on moving picture technology. Not only was Edison's lab in New Jersey, distancing them geographically, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers California) took a more "relaxed" view of IP rights.