As new technology continues to make the sharing of information ever simpler and ever faster, many countries around the world are actively seeking out the best ways to make use of the new tools, and the newly available information. But not in the U.S.: in fact, America is doing everything it can to stem the flow of information, putting in place dozens of new regulations designed to protect “intellectual property.” It’s a typically American idea to think that we can engage the world on our terms alone, bullying and regulating it into submission, says Thomas Goetz, and one that’s been tried before. The trouble is, it doesn’t work.