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IP Conference in Sao Paulo is Tomorrow
WASHINGTON D.C. – The first foray into South America by The Progress & Freedom Foundation was an unqualified success, as more than 100 lawyers, Argentine government officials and members of the local media attended PFF’s all-day conference on intellectual property rights April 7th in Buenos Aires. "Intellectual Property and Innovation in the Digital World" was co-hosted with La Escuela Superior de Economía y Administración de Empresas (ESEADE), an academic institution specializing in business, economics and political science.
“It was heartening to meet so many friends of the free market,” said PFF President Ray Gifford of his time in Buenos Aires. “Argentina is a nation rich in natural and human resources, and many of the most stellar members of the latter were at our conference both as speakers and attendees.” He said ESEADE was a tremendous host and he was positive they and other like-minded Argentines would continue the fight for free markets that respect intellectual property and encourage innovation. In his presentation, Gifford addressed how interoperability and standards are an organic part of the free market, and that there is no perfect approach to either. The call for permitting consumers within markets to drive the forces of interoperability and standards was timely, in that legislation is currently moving in France that would force interoperability in digital music players and services. PFF Senior Fellow and Vice President for Research Tom Lenard gave a presentation highlighting the direct correlation between a nation’s institutional respect for intellectual property rights and its economic prosperity. That theme was supported with additional data and evidence by numerous Argentine panelists and presenters throughout the day. PFF Senior Fellow James DeLong, director of PFF’s Center for the Study of Digital Property (IPCentral), also elaborated on this theme, noting that intellectual property is increasingly being commoditized as industries change the way they develop and acquire innovations.
Gifford, Lenard and DeLong were joined by several other distinguished speakers throughout the day. Summaries of some of these presentations, and other reactions of PFF fellows on the trip, can be found in PFF’s Digital Americas blog. As PFF begins the second leg of its South American tour in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the fellows will continue to blog, including in real time during "Intellectual Property in the Digital World-The Importance for Brazilian Development," the April 11 th conference in Sao Paulo.
The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a market-oriented think tank that studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy. It is a 501(c)(3) research & educational organization. | 
