Privatization of information and its transnational implications for intellectual property regimes: consequences for consumer protection and management of rights

The article argues that the anti-circumvention provisions for technological protection measures and digital rights management systems enacted in the United States and in Europe compromise the consumer’s capacity to exercise legitimate rights, such as the private use exemption, by giving content owners extralegal protection for their works. It also analyses how these acts have caused an inappropriate delegation of governmental decision making to a non-governmental entity with a consequent privatization of the government's role in protecting intellectual property and in setting technical standards for digital infrastructure and interoperability.