6 ms·

Since there was a talk about abolishing patents etc. from the US system, I had my hopes up for a few seconds that England might've picked some of those ideals u

Since there was a talk about abolishing patents etc. from the US system, I had my hopes up for a few seconds that England might've picked some of those ideals up. Looks like that isn't the acse. They're actually acting now on a study commissioned in 2006!

iuguy 15y ago
Sorry to be a little picky but it's not England, it's the United Kingdom. Of all of the member nations of the United Kingdom, England is the only one unrepresented in government. Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales all have devolved governments of their own. England has no such government. The sad fact is that the British parliament could pass a law, which can then be overturned in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland leaving England screwed. Furthermore, MPs from those countries all get to vote in the British parliament, then their devolved equivalents can vote against it locally (except in England as there's no English parliament). This happened most recently with tuition fees but can apply to almost anything.
- wisty 15y ago
  Keep in mind, the British parliament can over-rule the Scottish one. The British law could include a clause "none of the above may be changed by the Parliaments of Scotland, Northern Island, or Wales". But contentious laws are already hard enough to pass.
  - iuguy 15y ago
    You hit the nail on the head with your last part. There's tons of little loopholes all over the place. For example, the Isles of Scilly have a slightly strange legal status, and if they're not explicitly mentioned in a law, it doesn't apply to them (I was told this by someone at the council in St. Mary's but didn't ask for the specific statute). To be honest, if a law is contentious enough for the scots to vote against it, then the devolved parliaments are just as likely push for their national reps to vote against it on the principle that it overrules them.
- philwelch 15y ago
  The West Lothian question: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lothian_question http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lothian_question
- scopendo 15y ago
  If the United Kingdom is properly the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, why are the citizens and government British? Maybe because anything else would sound dumb...
  - jerf 15y ago
    http://qntm.org/uk http://qntm.org/uk As a United States citizen I won't even try to summarize that. (The author is... err... somewhere in there, so I'll defer to him.)
    - SamColes 15y ago
      This is an excellent video that explains it very well - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10
- cabalamat 15y ago
  On the contrary, Copyright is a reserved matter to Westminster, and the Scottish, NI, and Wales devolved governments have no power to overrule the UK government.
  - iuguy 15y ago
    At the risk of talking cross-porpoises, I was referring to the parent poster's incorrect use of the term England as a country with the ability to make it's own laws, as opposed to copyright law in general.

iuguy 15y ago

Sorry to be a little picky but it's not England, it's the United Kingdom. Of all of the member nations of the United Kingdom, England is the only one unrepresented in government. Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales all have devolved governments of their own. England has no such government. The sad fact is that the British parliament could pass a law, which can then be overturned in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland leaving England screwed. Furthermore, MPs from those countries all get to vote in the British parliament, then their devolved equivalents can vote against it locally (except in England as there's no English parliament). This happened most recently with tuition fees but can apply to almost anything.

wisty 15y ago
Keep in mind, the British parliament can over-rule the Scottish one. The British law could include a clause "none of the above may be changed by the Parliaments of Scotland, Northern Island, or Wales". But contentious laws are already hard enough to pass.
- iuguy 15y ago
  You hit the nail on the head with your last part. There's tons of little loopholes all over the place. For example, the Isles of Scilly have a slightly strange legal status, and if they're not explicitly mentioned in a law, it doesn't apply to them (I was told this by someone at the council in St. Mary's but didn't ask for the specific statute). To be honest, if a law is contentious enough for the scots to vote against it, then the devolved parliaments are just as likely push for their national reps to vote against it on the principle that it overrules them.
philwelch 15y ago
The West Lothian question: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lothian_question http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lothian_question
scopendo 15y ago
If the United Kingdom is properly the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, why are the citizens and government British? Maybe because anything else would sound dumb...
- jerf 15y ago
  http://qntm.org/uk http://qntm.org/uk As a United States citizen I won't even try to summarize that. (The author is... err... somewhere in there, so I'll defer to him.)
  - SamColes 15y ago
    This is an excellent video that explains it very well - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10
cabalamat 15y ago
On the contrary, Copyright is a reserved matter to Westminster, and the Scottish, NI, and Wales devolved governments have no power to overrule the UK government.
- iuguy 15y ago
  At the risk of talking cross-porpoises, I was referring to the parent poster's incorrect use of the term England as a country with the ability to make it's own laws, as opposed to copyright law in general.