"This is the inaugural edition of the Consumers International IP Watch List, a survey that examines the intellectual property (IP) laws and enforcement practices of a range of countries, from the perspective of the world's only global consumer advocacy body, Consumers International (CI). This first IP Watch List focuses on copyright, because of all the forms of monopoly rights that are commonly described as intellectual property, it is copyright that has the most immediate impact on consumers' access to knowledge, and thereby on their educational, cultural and developmental opportunities. The intent of this IP Watch List is to assess how well the copyright laws and enforcement policies of the surveyed countries support the interests of consumers, by allowing them fair access to the fruits of their society's culture and science. The results of this survey will illustrate that strict copyright laws, enforced rigidly, can seriously harm the interests of consumers. The survey finds that what is more important than a strict copyright system, is a fair copyright system; one that balances the economic interests of rights holders with the compelling economic, social and cultural interests of consumers. As will be seen, such systems can be found in countries that one might not expect." (Page 1)