U.S. - South Korea Free Trade Agreement 04/23/12

        One of the most alarming news today in Korea, other than the North Korea's so-called "Space satellite mission," is the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Korea and the United States.  During my research on the intellectual property rights of Korea, I came across some notions about the inconvenient situation of Korea not accepting the copyright or the patent issued by the United States. Therefore, I decided to not only research about the difference between Korea's and the United States' intellectual property rights but also study about their agreements on intellectual property rights.
        According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Chapter of the U.S.-South Korea trade agreement contains state-of-the-art protections spanning all types of intellectual property, and requirements to join key multilateral IPR agreements: also containing strong enforcement provisions to ensure that American intellectual property rights are efficiently and effectively protected in South Korea.
        One of the key elements of the Free Trade Agreement is the Protection for Copyrighted Works in a Digital Economy. The agreement provides for several forms of IPR protection that are important in the digital environment, such as anti-circumvention provisions to prohibit tampering with technologies designed to prevent piracy and unauthorized distribution over the Internet; a framework for the limitation of liability of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for copyright infringement, reflecting the balance struck in the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act between allowing for legitimate ISP activity and preventing the infringement of copyright; and enhancing the rights of copyright owners over digital copies of their works.
        I will continue on searching more about the agreement between Korea and the United States' intellectual property rights.