Piracy and counterfeiting may invoke file-sharing and impossibly cheap Rolexes, writes NBC Universal CEO Bob Wright, but in the digital age, anyone with a new invention, creative idea or technological breakthrough is at risk of a rip-off.  Several groups, including the newly created global effort BASCAP (Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy) can help.

At a recent industry roundtable, business and U.S. government stressed that the upcoming United Nations-sponsored World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) should be used to focus on ways that the Internet can improve the economies of developing nations, rather than getting bogged down in the politics of Internet governance.

Business leaders and experts from throughout the world met in London for a two-day event, organized by the International Chamber of Commerce, dealing with corporate governance regulation in a market-driven global economy.  One speaker noted the evolution of a “hybrid solution”: a private-sector code of conduct, endorsed by governments and given legal backing.