New WTO Trade Rules for Bits and Bytes?

The major trading nations have been busy with trade agreements—free, preferential, and bilateral—incorporating Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)-plus and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Internet Treaty provisions into their respective schedules, impacting the trade in digital intangible products. This paper briefly looks at some of the more recent and larger FTAs, although many of the operative provisions for some, such as the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), are still not in the public domain. Nevertheless, the wording of provisions in agreements, such as the Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement (KORUS), provides a good overview of what has been achieved.