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Wipout Essay Results

Posted by michael on from the a-for-effort dept.

chrestomanci writes "The Register is reporting on the results of a counter-essay contest run by wipout.net (an international organisation that seeks to limit the reach of the WIPO and intellectual property rights in general) against the WIPO's own essay contest, both with the title "What does intellectual property mean to you in your daily life?". A telling slogan reads: Today, the WTO pulled the trigger on another 2.500 poor AIDS victims."

4 of 228 comments (clear)

  1. Re: Wipout Essay Results by rmohr02 · · Score: 2, Funny
    Today is World Intellectual Property day...
    What! Why didn't anyone tell me! I could have been planning a party!
  2. Does anyone else see the irony....? by Corporate+Drone · · Score: 2, Funny
    that the World Intellectual Property day just happens to fall within the same time period as the Great Slashdot Blackout?


    No?


    ok... nevermind. it must be the ragweed, then...

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    mmm... yeah... You see, we're putting the cover sheets on all TPS reports now before they go out...
  3. Re:Drugs Patents Do Make Sense by inerte · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm not a huge fan of patents, but software patents are one of the few types of patents that make sense. Why do we need patents? To subsidize the cost of innovation. And the cost of innovation is often steep, it has always been much easier to ripoff someone's idea than develop it yourself. Often times, the inventor doesn't profit at all from his invention. (see Marijuana->Cocaine->Ecstasy)

    For software companies, the cost to code is high, not just because of all the trial and error involved (although rational programming does help), but because of all the Standars Committees Specs involved. The patent system, as far as I know, is the only system that has been developed to offset the costs of getting a software User-approved.

    Its not like a drug patent, where the costs of innovation are mostly stealling other researchers. I would like to see a better system for compensating software companies for the money they put into getting a software approved, but I have not seen one. Maybe instead granting software patents for a set number of years, we could grant them based on the time it takes to recoup the trial costs? At least then we could minimize the damage done by granting a monopoly on a life-saving feature.

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    Buy a Nintendo DS Lite
  4. Re: Wipout Essay Results by prockcore · · Score: 5, Funny

    " Today is World Intellectual Property day... What! Why didn't anyone tell me! I could have been planning a party!"

    We wanted to tell you, but you refused to sign the NDA.