MEDIA REACTION; IPR; CLIMATE CHANGE; ARGENTINE-BRAZILIAN

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000821 SIPDIS STATE FOR INR/R/MR, I/GWHA, WHA, WHA/PDA, WHA/BSC, WHA/EPSC CDR USSOCOM FOR J-2 IAD/LAMA SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO OPRC KMDR PREL MEDIA REACTION SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION; IPR; CLIMATE CHANGE; ARGENTINE-BRAZILIAN TIES; 04/26/07; BUENOS AIRES ¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT Today's most important international stories include the celebration of Intellectual Property Day and the need to fight piracy; climate change and the USG; and prospects of Argentine-Brazilian ties. ¶2. OPINION PIECES AND EDITORIALS - "Climate change gets religion" James Neilson, contributor to liberal, English-language "Buenos Aires Herald," writes (04/26) "... Is it true that climate change is of our own making, that, as a BBC announcer keeps saying, we have 'become a force of nature'? "Not for the first time, climate variations and the fears they inspire have given rise to something akin to a religious cult. The belief that we can influence the weather by performing the appropriate rituals runs deep. Equally appealing is the belief that if anything nasty happens, it must be due to someone's sinful behavior, especially when that someone can be identified as none other than George W. Bush whose refusal to sign the Kyoto protocol made him loathed by many right-thinking people long before he decided to rid the world of Saddam Hussein. "As Bush's US is by far the biggest industrialized country, it produces more greenhouse gases than any other and so, along with its president, can be blamed for floods in Bangladesh and, with a bit of ingenuity, in Argentina as well. Will people be just as indignant with China when its production of greenhouse gases overtakes that of the US, as will happen very soon? If they are, they will accuse China of ruining the planet by selling out to capitalism." - "Prospects" Marcelo Cantelmi, international editor of leading "Clarin," penned (04/26) "The notion that there is an inevitable common fate to be shared by Argentina and Brazil, the two largest South American economies, is not simple rhetoric... Even with its difficulties, Brazil not only quadruples Argentine GDP but it is also the gateway to the entire region. According to a noteworthy estimate by Goldman Sachs and the Deutsche Bank, which was disseminated by Foreign Affairs, during the next decade the total annual GDP for Brazil, Russia, India and China together (the famous BRIC) will be similar to the combined GDP of US, Japan, Germany, the UK and Italy. By 2025, (Brazil and Argentina's) GDP will double that of the G7. These remarkable figures reveal a new tendency for countries on the periphery, including our country. It is a prospect calling for a broad, ambitious and, above all, urgent vision..." - "Intellectual property versus piracy" Daily-of-record "La Nacion" editorializes (04/26) "Today is IPR World Day, which was created by the UN with the purpose of acknowledging and rewarding the authors' creativity as well as their contribution to improving society. "... Due to progress made in computer science, a cyberspace with no rules and lower costs in information technology, cultural piracy has become an increasing problem in industrialized and developing countries alike, with serious repercussion for cultural activities, creativity and economic development. As a matter of fact, in those countries in which piracy has greater impact, the cultural product diminishes and subsequently, there is cultural impoverishment. Of course, this is in addition to the implicit fraudulent tax evasion. "... Measures to protect intellectual property and, in consequence, to struggle against piracy should be aimed at overhauling and improving legislation, respecting current legislation and promoting public information campaigns on the serious cultural and economic consequences of piracy." To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website at: http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires WAYNE