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• how are those patents going to benefit the companies that filed them ? It's mainly a closed-source word out there, how are they to prove that a competitor used the same technology in a closed-source product ?
• it does not appear to harm the free software community for the moment, but what later ? What if those components are no longer distributed under a free license ? SE Linux raises the problem with the explicit mention being removed from their pages, as mentionned by LWN.
• isn't it just a problem with the US patent office, who are overloaded with work, who do not always check the validity of a patent with regards to prior art, and the US legal system which allows lawyers of big companies to blackmail and racket smaller companies on unfair patent claims ? See this site which refers to a previous /. post on the subject. I personnaly think that kind of situation is an incentive for RedHat and SELinux to spend big bucks on patents.

Say "thanks" to US lawyers and Powers That Be for allowing that nightmare to come true.

Harvey Ball, the creator of the smiley face image, (not the ascii [:-)] ) died not too long ago! He never trademarked his creation, however, but he did form a corporation to make smiley greeting cards and sell them with profits going to charity.

However, some French Dude registered the trademark in a bunch of countries, and Ball considered going after him to keep the smiley free.

This story reminds us why something like the GPL is so important: It ensures that information that is free stays free! Public Domain resources (even smileys!) can be snatched up and made into commodities!

Of course, what the Bush Administration Considers as information flow is questionable. The Bush Administration supports the WTO TRIPS agreement, as well as the authority of the WIPO. Unfortunately, when developing countries are in need of affordable pharmecuticals, Bush will advocate that compulsory patents are not issued, yet when an Anthrax scare hits the US, Bush will be a hypocrite and issue compulsory patents to aquire cheap Ciprofloxin!

The Bush Administration has a poor record when it comes to Information Freedom. Bush has, for example,picked the pro-privatization James Rogan to head of the US Patent Office. The USPTO is in dire need of reform, as business interests are able to push through unacceptable and barely reviewed patents.I doubt Rogan is the person to reform the US PTO.

Fight for Information Freedom!

Of course, what the Bush Administration Considers as information flow is questionable. The Bush Administration supports the WTO TRIPS agreement, as well as the authority of the WIPO. Unfortunately, when developing countries are in need of affordable pharmecuticals, Bush will advocate that compulsory patents are not issued, yet when an Anthrax scare hits the US, Bush will be a hypocrite and issue compulsory patents to aquire cheap Ciprofloxin!

The Bush Administration has a poor record when it comes to Information Freedom. Bush has, for example,picked the pro-privatization James Rogan to head of the US Patent Office. The USPTO is in dire need of reform, as business interests are able to push through unacceptable and barely reviewed patents.I doubt Rogan is the person to reform the US PTO.

Fight for Information Freedom!

Well, no one wants to use IPX, but I hope people want to read FreeIPX, the Free Information Property Exchange!

The essential goals of the WIPO and the WTO's TRIPS agreement have essentially the same goals: to standardize Intellectual Property Law across national borders. James Love, of the Consumer Project on Technology, has Pharm-policy mailing list readers a link to this joint press release of the WTO and the WIPO. This press release describes a new joint initiative regarding cooperation between these two corporation-friendly organizations. The initiative calls for a new push to help developing countries establish more monopolistic intellectual property infrastructures. Dr. Kamil Idris, Director General of the WIPO, states in the press release that intellectual property was a tool for technological advancement, economic growth and wealth creation for all nations, especially for least-developed countries. Does this joint initiative really take into account the economic needs of the people in less developed countries? Or does it simply add to the wealth of companies that monopolize information? What about economically comprimised people living in well-developed countries?

Read the essay entitled The WTO and the WIPO Combine Forces to Privatize the World .

Yuo can send an anti-SSSCA e-mail to Fritz Hollings from here:

http://freeipx.org/display.php3?id=126


TAKE ACTION SOON! CONTACT YOUR SENATORS TO MAKE SURE THE SSSCA DOESN'T EVER PASS!!

FreeIPX

Wipeout

Center for the Public Domain

Yay! Computer and information systems should be free and open! Free IPX congratulates all the winners!

Oops, I mean the posting is here.

I reposted the attack letter in (crummy) HTML here.

I put up some photos from the August 30 march on the Federal Building to demand Dmitry's charges be dropped. I hope to soon put a clip up with RMS and Bruce Perens speaking to the crowd...