So America is not content to be the World's supercop in military matters. It's bad enough we extend our anti-trust and tax and drug laws extraterritorially. Senate Moves To Protect U.S. IP Overseas reports:

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) introduced the International Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement Act of 2008, legislation meant to crack down on the theft of U.S. intellectual property around the world.

The bill would compel the U.S. Trade Representative to develop action plans for countries on the piracy "Priority Watch List," and empower the president with enforcement tools if corrective actions are not taken. It would also ensure the placement of officials at foreign embassies tasked with enforcing American IP rights.

(See also my post IP Imperialism (Russia, Intellectual Property , and the WTO))

Uh-oh: I guess poor Australia--which is considering overhauling its patent laws to reduce the harm on innovation--is about to be in the US Government's crosshairs!