Calling all European slashdotters to the front lines. Contact your Members of the European Parliament and educate them on the economic costs of software patents.
Under current patent legislation in New Zealand there is no inventive step requirement for something to be patentable. However this requirement will be added if the proposed Draft Patents Bill is passed into law.
Patents allow firms to create artificial legal barriers that can hinder or prevent community-based peer-production, as those communities may lack the resources to apply for patents, object to patent applications, pay patent licensing fees or defend themselves from patent litigation.
Allowing software patents is a decision favouring one form of software production over another.
Community-based peer-production was the topic of the essay "Coase's Penguin" by Yochai Benkler, Professor of Law at the NYU School of Law. Benkler's ultimate thesis is that some of the restrictions that copyright and patent law place on the free flow of information are preventing commons-based peer-production from reaching its full potential. Since peer-production is such an effective form of knowledge production, Benkler argues, it may well be worthwhile reconsidering whether these costs are really worth the benefits.
You cannot blame MS for playing according to the rules; nor can one blame the policticians for being accomodating and writing the rules to benefit such a generous contributor.
You can blame yourself if you're against software patents but don't take action.
I wrote to the NZ Herald last week with the idea for the article that got slashdotted today!
I also made a submission to the government on the NZ Draft Patent Bill. I argued the same point made in the article:
"Patents allow firms to create artificial legal barriers that can hinder or prevent community-based peer-production...
Allowing software patents is a decision favouring one form of software production over another."
If the patent is for processing word processing XML files, how do they define that?
Microsoft have patented the W3C XML Schema definition for their Word XML format.
A requirement for an invention to be patentable in NZ is that it is a "manner of new manufacture", a term defined in the Staute of Monopolies Act 1623.
Microsoft must have convinced the NZ patent office that the Schema for their Word XML was a "manner of new manufacture". I.e. it defines a way for a word processor to "manufacture" or "convert" the XML storage format into a rendered document on screen.
In New Zealand we are fighting software patents by making it a national issue that the political parties will have to face.
The NZOSS is arranging a meeting in which MP's from various political parties will be speaking about their parties position on software patents. The meeting will be in early May on Parliament grounds, Wellington. To find out more join the NZOSS openchat mailing list. Please mod up.;)
Slashdot Mirror
If this is a constant battle, it's time to fight!
Calling all European slashdotters to the front lines. Contact your Members of the European Parliament and educate them on the economic costs of software patents.
Under current patent legislation in New Zealand there is no inventive step requirement for something to be patentable. However this requirement will be added if the proposed Draft Patents Bill is passed into law.
The NZ Herald article points out:
Community-based peer-production was the topic of the essay "Coase's Penguin" by Yochai Benkler, Professor of Law at the NYU School of Law. Benkler's ultimate thesis is that some of the restrictions that copyright and patent law place on the free flow of information are preventing commons-based peer-production from reaching its full potential. Since peer-production is such an effective form of knowledge production, Benkler argues, it may well be worthwhile reconsidering whether these costs are really worth the benefits.
You cannot blame MS for playing according to the rules; nor can one blame the policticians for being accomodating and writing the rules to benefit such a generous contributor.
You can blame yourself if you're against software patents but don't take action.
I wrote to the NZ Herald last week with the idea for the article that got slashdotted today!
I also made a submission to the government on the NZ Draft Patent Bill. I argued the same point made in the article:
Let's make our own rules!If the patent is for processing word processing XML files, how do they define that?
Microsoft have patented the W3C XML Schema definition for their Word XML format.
A requirement for an invention to be patentable in NZ is that it is a "manner of new manufacture", a term defined in the Staute of Monopolies Act 1623.
Microsoft must have convinced the NZ patent office that the Schema for their Word XML was a "manner of new manufacture". I.e. it defines a way for a word processor to "manufacture" or "convert" the XML storage format into a rendered document on screen.
The NZOSS is opposing this patent
In New Zealand we are fighting software patents by making it a national issue that the political parties will have to face.
The NZOSS is arranging a meeting in which MP's from various political parties will be speaking about their parties position on software patents. The meeting will be in early May on Parliament grounds, Wellington. To find out more join the NZOSS openchat mailing list. Please mod up. ;)
SVG is a perfect format for interactive visualizations of dynamic data.
For example, here is an interactive genealogical data visualization that was produced using XSLT transformations and published as a RESTful service via a Java servlet. The sourceforge project has more information on how the visualization was produced.
Use SVG as a medium to visually repurpose data to create your own interpretation of the world!
SVG is a perfect format for dynamic media works combining text, hyperlinks and graphics.
For budding web comic artists wanting to quickly generate SVG out of raster images I recommend the open-source Delineate raster to SVG converter.
Some SVG poster art is on the Delineate gallery page.
To convert raster images into SVG, I recommend the open-source Delineate raster to SVG converter.
The Delineate gallery page has several web poster art SVG images, including my favorite war and peace.