Conversation:

"Washington, Dickens blasted in American Notes, was the home of: "Despicable trickery at elections; under-handed tamperings with public officers; and cowardly attacks upon opponents, with scurrilous newspapers for shields, and hired pens for daggers"."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17017791

Sound familiar?

I also find it notable that the U.S. went from a nation without copyright laws to one forcing draconian copyright laws through the governments of other nations behind closed doors.

I wish it were America that was doing this, because then I would feel like my vote has some power to change it.

But the players are enormously powerful corporations and special interest groups, such as the so-called International Intellectual Property Alliance which includes the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America). In other words it is Sony, NewsCorp (aka FOX) and that whole lot.