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Seth Johnson | 2 Aug 2004 17:16
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TiVo vs. the Broadcast Flag


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [IP] TiVo vs. the Broadcast Flag Wavers
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2004 09:06:34 -0400
From: David Farber <dave <at> farber.net>
To: Ip <ip <at> v2.listbox.com>

Begin forwarded message:

From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne <at> warpspeed.com>
Date: August 2, 2004 8:09:09 AM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net <at> warpspeed.com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] TiVo vs. the Broadcast Flag Wavers
Reply-To: dewayne <at> warpspeed.com

TiVo vs. the Broadcast Flag Wavers

By Rob Pegoraro
The Washington Post
Sunday, August 1, 2004; Page F06
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29428-2004Jul31.html>

TiVo, the company that makes the digital-video-recorder boxes that  inspire
such strange idolatry among their users, is in a weird spot.  It's asking
the Federal Communications Commission for permission to add  a new feature
-- the option for a TiVo user to send recorded digital TV  programs via the
Internet to nine other people.

Huh? Permission? Doesn't the government's involvement in consumer 
electronics stop with making sure that a gadget doesn't jam your  neighbor's
(Continue reading)

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Seth Johnson | 4 Aug 2004 16:05
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Powell on VoIP + CALEA NPRM


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [IP] FCC Chmn: VOiP and the Feds
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 09:25:41 -0400
From: David Farber <dave <at> farber.net>
Reply-To: dave <at> farber.net
To: Ip <ip <at> v2.listbox.com>

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Meeks, Brock (MSNBCi)" <Brock.Meeks <at> MSNBC.COM>
Date: August 4, 2004 9:13:23 AM EDT
To: dave <at> farber.net
Subject: FCC Chmn: VOiP and the Feds

And so the hammer drops on VOiP:

STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN MICHAEL K. POWELL

Re: In the Matter of Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act  and
Broadband Access and Services, RM-10865, ET Docket No.

  We are entering a dynamic space in the evolution of Internet voice 
services and applications.  As technologies re-shape communications,  this
Commission must continually assess the needs of the law  enforcement
community under the Communications Assistance for Law  Enforcement Act
("CALEA"). 

  More and more people are taking advantage of these new and exciting 
competitive voice offerings, and we are starting to see substantial
(Continue reading)

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Seth Johnson | 5 Aug 2004 01:16
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Munich GNU/Linux Migration Suspended


(. . . due to SW patent indeterminacy.  -- Seth)

> http://linux.slashdot.org/linux/04/08/04/1233241.shtml?tid=163&tid=155&tid=218

City of Munich Freezes Its Linux Migration

Posted by timothy on Wednesday August 04,  <at> 08:41AM

from the patently-something dept.

Jan0815 writes "Yesterday I received disturbing news from the CTO of Munich,
Wilhelm Hoegner. As previously mentioned, there is a rising concern that
software patents could stifle development of open source worldwide. FFII has
complete coverage of what is going on in Europe." (FFII stands for
Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure.) Reader jmt(tm) writes
"The call for bids was supposed to be published in late July, but the Munich
Green Party had pointed out about 50 possible patent conflicts which the
city wants to evaluate before moving on.

--

-- 

DRM is Theft!  We are the Stakeholders!

New Yorkers for Fair Use
http://www.nyfairuse.org

[CC] Counter-copyright: http://realmeasures.dyndns.org/cc

I reserve no rights restricting copying, modification or distribution of
(Continue reading)

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Seth Johnson | 5 Aug 2004 02:06
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Automatic "IP" Lobbyist


(Hit refresh for extended silliness.  -- Seth)

> http://beauprez.net/softpat/madronpage.php

"International treaties require us to give more money to patent offices in
order that people living on the poverty line continue to innovate."

--

-- 

DRM is Theft!  We are the Stakeholders!

New Yorkers for Fair Use
http://www.nyfairuse.org

[CC] Counter-copyright: http://realmeasures.dyndns.org/cc

I reserve no rights restricting copying, modification or distribution of
this incidentally recorded communication.  Original authorship should be
attributed reasonably, but only so far as such an expectation might hold for
usual practice in ordinary social discourse to which one holds no claim of
exclusive rights.
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Seth Johnson | 7 Aug 2004 18:12
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Fwd: Copyright Lessons in British Schools


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: copyright lessons in british schools
Date: Sat, 7 Aug 2004 13:25:43 +0200
From: "Andres K. Foerster" <list <at> akfoerster.de>
To: discussion <at> fsfeurope.org

Hello,

when I first read that britisch school kids should get education in
copyright law, I first thought "wow great, at least they learn something
reasonable". But then I followed the link and I saw what it really is
about... it's all influenced by the music industry - and now guess in which
direction it goes. :-(

see:
'Stealing songs is wrong' lessons head for UK schools
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/05/uk_school_copyright_lessons/>

Open Letter Against British Copyright Indoctrination in Schools:
<http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/8/5/151113/8977>

And before someone asks a stupid question: Of course it has to do with
software - it's the same copyight law. Anything you can say about
downloading music also applies to downloading software. (There is just less
good free music yet than there is free software)

--

-- 
AKFoerster
(I need a job!)
(Continue reading)

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Seth Johnson | 7 Aug 2004 20:35
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Re: pho: Copyright Lessons in British Schools


Let me just put it this way:  who teaches the course and who sets the
curriculum is the right question to ask.

Which point, incidentally, the original message already implied.

Seth

Dean Kay wrote:
> 
> Well, I would suspect in the right direction - for a change....!
> 
> You are not suggesting, I hope, that they include in their curriculum a
> course entitled:  "Stealing Songs Is Right"?
> 
> Seth Johnson wrote:
> 
> >-------- Original Message --------
> >Subject: copyright lessons in british schools
> >Date: Sat, 7 Aug 2004 13:25:43 +0200
> >From: "Andres K. Foerster" <list <at> akfoerster.de>
> >To: discussion <at> fsfeurope.org
> >
> >Hello,
> >
> >when I first read that britisch school kids should get education in
> >copyright law, I first thought "wow great, at least they learn something
> >reasonable". But then I followed the link and I saw what it really is
> >about... it's all influenced by the music industry - and now guess in which
> >direction it goes. :-(
(Continue reading)

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Seth Johnson | 8 Aug 2004 03:36
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Re: Copyright Lessons in British Schools


> Dean Kay wrote:
> 
> You're not against kids and music are you... ?
> 
> If not, why don't you add your name to the following list of caring people
> and organizations who support the concept in the UK because they
> understand how important  introducing music to children is in their
> overall development as human beings.
> 
> Kids playing music are not a threat to innovation.

I tried to find somebody on that list who I knew would not be an
accommodationist on matters of exclusive rights policy, but I couldn't.  But
then again, I *do* hate kids and music, with a steely hot passion.

Seth

> Access to Music (ATM)
> Activate UK
> Active Music Services
> Adobe
> Amplifier - Suffolk
> Andrew Walker
> Andy Rogers
> Apple Computer
> Arts Council England
> Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music
> Association of British Choral Directors (ABCD)
> Association of British Orchestras
(Continue reading)

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Seth Johnson | 13 Aug 2004 12:57
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Reader Letter: Don't Believe "IPR" Hype


> http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2004/08/12/2003198441

Letter

Don't believe IPR hype

Alex Macfie
Thursday, Aug 12, 2004,Page 8 

Taiwan would be shooting itself in the foot if it were to go down the
American route of ever-broader and stronger intellectual property
protection, as suggested by Honigmann Hong and Lu Yi-hsun ("IPR should drive
our tech-based economy," page 8, Tuesday, Aug. 10). 

In the US this approach is beginning to be questioned -- last autumn the US
Federal Trade Commission produced a report suggesting that the extension of
patent protection in the US to cover software and business methods has been
a failure. The report suggests what most software developers and small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) know already -- that innovation in IT is
driven by competition, not by patentability, and that patents actually
impede development in that field.

Clearly, then, it spectacularly fails Hong and Lu's test to "find an
equilibrium between technological development and technological
dissemination."

The article says that IBM collected "over US$1 billion" in license fees for
its patents in 2001. But it misses the fact that the great majority of these
patents are on programming methods that IT professionals regard as trivial
(Continue reading)

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Seth Johnson | 13 Aug 2004 13:20
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Munich Going Forward with GNU/Linux Migration


> http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20040811094816824

Munich Going Forward with Linux

Wednesday, August 11 2004  <at>  09:48 AM EDT  

Heise is reporting that Munich's mayor has held a press conference, in which
he said that the bidding process for the switch from Windows to Linux will
go forward as originally planned, despite patent issues. Thanks to Matthias
for spotting this first.

Mayor Ude, who said he's been thinking it over for a few days, says there
will be a legal study completed by Autumn concerning the migration, and if
it looks safe, they will go forward and meanwhile the bidding begins.
Munich, he said, wants to stay with its commitment to Linux. He also
announced that the city is going to request a legal study on the question of
what consequences the EU-directive on the patentability of
"computer-implemented inventions" will have in the current version of the
Council of Ministers's proposed law. 

A translator is at work, and I'll have more for you later. 

As promised, here is the meat of it, translated by tglx: 

  "Despite legal ambiguity and continuous fears of a patent war around open
source, Munich's Mayor Christian Ude wants to start the bidding procedure
for the replacement of the desktop OS in the city administration. Ude
announced this at a press conference in the city hall. The LiMux project
goes into the active migration phase. A survey of the patent issue will be
(Continue reading)

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Seth Johnson | 14 Aug 2004 01:08
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Re: Reader Letter: Don't Believe "IPR" Hype


Hartmut Pilch wrote:
> 
> > Taiwan should continue to be a nation built on innovation, rather than try
> 
> Just a sidenote: I don't know whether Alex wanted to get embroiled in the
> discussion about nation-building in Taiwan.  There is already a state
> called "Republic of China" on Taiwan, which ruled the mainland until 1949
> and is not in a hurry to reunite under undemocratic conditions, but by far
> not everybody in Taiwan would agree that there must be a taiwanese nation
> state in the long term.
> 
> Btw I have a Chinese book hyping software patents, written by an author
> from Taiwan and spread by patent lawyer friends on the mainland recently,
> but haven't found the time to report about it.  They quote the great
> achievements of their german patent lawyer friends in softening caselaw
> and making everything patentable.  This is important for them, because
> both sides of the Taiwan strait have german law and caselaw, including
> phrases about forces of nature, in their patentability statutes.  Now they
> are pointing to Germany as the authoritative country that is giving up on
> limiting patentability.  So we need some more articles there that point to
> the reversal of this tide, as seen in the EP vote of last year.  We are
> seeing far too little echo of this (also in the US, where EFF and Pubpat
> are focussing attention on the novelty of individual patents and failing
> to combine this with the general fight against swpat which isn't over
> anywhere and will never be).

I think some education regarding the "no difference between hardware and
software" analysis needs to be put out, to policymakers, advocates and
constituencies.  A lot of people get conned by software patent promoters
(Continue reading)

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Gmane