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Malaysia Says Piracy (Might Be) OK for Learning
mkbz writes "a Malaysian newspaper published a story quoting Malaysia's Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, who condemned the use of pirated software for business, but also said they may turn a blind eye to piracy when it comes to education: "But for educational purposes and to encourage computer usage, we may consider allowing schools and social organisations to use pirated software." is learning more important than copyright enforcement? could each of the pirated works found in schools be written off as donations? how can this benefit both the people AND the software makers? Read the full article here."
Looks like it would work well. I mean its a great circumvision device. Anyone not using it for educational purposes could be suied under the DMCA!!!
The Anti-Blog
Wow, now that's a term I didn't expect to ever see on Slashdot! :)
No I'm not a bumiputra. Here's what I know. Bumiputras get preference when they enrol for local Malaysian universities. It's much easier for them to get scholarships and admittance to a local university, compared to a non-bumiputra -- even if their SPM grades (SPM = SAT-equivalent) are lower than non-bumiputras. And they have this "quota" policy. Like there can be only a certain amount of non-bumis enrolled in any local university. That pretty much destroys the chances of non-bumis getting in, especially the poorer ones, no matter how smart they are. It's really a shame.
I'm not sure if bumis get a free education or not. The reason I don't know is because non-bumis generally do not even consider getting into local universities, because of discriminatory policies. Even if they get admitted, they've got to work their asses off just to graduate. The result is very few non-bumis actually attend local universities.
I do know that bumis get a whole ton of government benefits, and a whole bunch of them do get government sponsorship to overseas universities like those in the States. All this while the non-bumis bust their asses just to get a decent education.
Yeah this whole nonsensical policy is from the '60s, when they were trying to get the bumis to catch up with the non-bumis. It was supposed to be removed when the bumis finally catch up with the non-bumis.. well it's 2002 now and it's still going on. They can't take it off because the bumis have become too dependent on it.. and they can't live without it. Any politician who suggests removing the policy gets a whole lot of opposition from bumis.
Well that's how I understand it. I think I got the gist of it, but some of the things I say may not be entirely accurate.. because I don't really follow the politics at home. I'm just darn sick and tired of it.