The anti-piracy ACTA agreement goes far beyond what is acceptable in the defence of intellectual property, threatening to internet users' privacy and allowing even legitimate websites to be blocked, says Ivaylo Kalfin. More »

France has added some more rocket fuel to Monday’s already volatile summit of EU leaders by pledging to introduce a 0.1pc tax on financial transactions in August. Oh to be a property agent in London these days. Brush up on the French lessons and wait for the stampede of Frogs into London to escape the

But Labour will adopt one good policy. They will bring back rent controls. Facepalm. Second only to aerial bombing in a major war as a successful method of reducing the available housing stock. Doesn’t anyone actually remember? The 70s, early 80s? When it was near impossible to find rental property anywhere in the country? Who

One of the armed forces' most celebrated airfields could be sold off to private investors under plans being considered by defence chiefs to help plug budget shortfalls, it has emerged.

“He conceives that the business of the magistrate is not merely to see that the persons and property of the people are secure from attack, but that he ought to be a jack-of-all-trades, architect, engineer, schoolmaster, merchant, theologian, a Lady Bountiful in every parish, a Paul Pry in every house, spying, eavesdropping, relieving, admonishing, spending

The political tussle over location is the final element of a summit agreement to usher in a streamlined intellectual property regime

A Land Registry inventory of title deeds, just published, is yet another piece of evidence revealing the hypocrisy of Osborne’s “we’re all in it together” in austerity. What it shows is that in just two central London boroughs the ownership of property worth £88.5bn has been transferred offshore to escape payment of stamp duty and inheritance tax. It is estimated that...

The recent debates about the US Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, has reignited interest in the subject of intellectual property. As regulars here know, people who defend free markets take very different views of IP, often clashing sharply about what the purpose of property rights as such is. So to help form my views about this, I recently ordered and received this book, Justifying Intellectual Pro...

The debate in the US about this SOPA legislation and the protests about it ("Stop Online Piracy Act"), has reignited debate in some circles about intellectual property as such. I have just taken delivery of this book, Justifying Intellectual Property, by Robert P. Merges, in which he gives an ethical, as well as economic, defence of IP (patents, copyrights, trademarks, etc). I have not read it in ...

Two controversial draft bills on internet piracy and intellectual property protection, which are currently being examined in the US Congress, are raising concerns among policymakers in the European Parliament. Marietje Schaake, a Dutch MEP, has taken up the issue and voiced her concerns to EurActiv in an interview. More »