> I'm not sure why - as a global species - there's not more effort to tighten up the rules in this regard.

Lobbying. These industries are worth billions of dollars. They can afford lobbyists who will go to politicians and influence the law making process. They essentially buy the laws that they want. Copyright duration is essentially infinite now thanks to these guys. Also illegal to reverse engineer thanks to these guys.

Billion dollar corporations protecting their own interests at the expense of the public's interests. Such a nice democracy we live under.