The rise of the global economy and the explosive growth of digital technology and the Internet have had sweeping implications for intellectual property protection in the United States and around the world.

While the adoption of new global standards for intellectual property protection and enforcement under the World Trade Organization promises an era of improved observance of copyright, patent, and trademark law, the international community is being challenged by a wave of piracy prompted by the ease of reproducing protected works in this digital era. The stakes in having an effective intellectual property rights regime are already high, and mounting rapidly. The very future of electronic commerce, distance education, and other cutting-edge trends in the global marketplace depend on the health and well- being of knowledge-based industries -- industries that are the most sensitive to losses from piracy and infringement.

This issue of Economic Perspectives explores these contradictory trends. The journal discusses the latest challenges to intellectual property rights and how the United States, other countries, and multilateral organizations like the World Intellectual Property Organization are responding. It examines the current state of intellectual property protection in the developing world, and outlines both the challenges these countries face and the potential benefits to them of higher intellectual property standards in terms of economic development.