12/4/2008 3:43:09 PM LOOKING FOR LEADERSHIP: CANADIAN ATTITUDES TOWARD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Canadians like to think of themselves as good citizens. At the global level, Canadians tend to express strong support for cooperation and multilateralism, wishing to be seen as upstanding participants in the international community. At the local level, Canadians like to imagine themselves as polite, considerate, and just plain “nice.” And yet, over the past several years Canada has fallen behind the international community when it comes to the protection of intellectual property and products of the mind. The gap between Canadian laws and international standards in the area of counterfeiting, piracy, and illegal downloading is growing ever wider. Canada has been maintained by the U.S. Trade Representative on a special watch list specifically because of its laxity in the realm of protecting intellectual property. How has a country that prides itself on sound citizenship fallen so far behind international standards in the protection of creative property and products of the mind? It is not for lack of public support for such protections. Research shows that Canadians overall have a strong respect for intellectual property, seeing creative work as every bit as valuable and worthy of protection as material goods. They also see value in fostering respect for intellectual property among Canadian youth, not only so that young people will learn to behave ethically toward others' creative output but also so that they themselves will learn to create and innovate -- avoiding plagiarism and cut-and-paste shortcuts. Canadians recognize that in the global information economy the ability to contribute products of the mind to the world economy will define Canada's success or failure. They recognize that piracy-based economies are parasitical in nature. And they are looking to government to show leadership in regulating the circulation of the artistic, technological, cultural, and intellectual work in an age of digital change. Although research shows that a strong foundation of respect for intellectual property already exists among Canadians, this respect may be eroded over time if present conditions persist. Currently, Canadians operate in a virtual vacuum of regulation or even social standards when it comes to the use and abuse of intellectual property. As a result, significant proportions of the Canadian public report having acquired creative goods illegally, and this number is even higher among youth. But not all Canadians who use creative goods improperly are willful rule-breakers. When it comes to intellectual property in Canada — and indeed when it comes to ethical issues in general — values research reveals three groups, each with distinct mental postures when it comes to intellectual property and ethics in general. [ Latest News Articles ]       [ View Past Articles ]