America Going Down The Toilet
on
Free Culture
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
There is considerable historical material that demonstrates that societies that muzzle their creative instincts go to the rubbish bin of history faster then most. This is the danger that the U.S. faces.
There is a common thread in Lessig's complaints about copyright laws, the DMCA, the SCO/Linux lawsuits, dumb patent laws and of course Microsoft's monopoly. By locking up IP you stifle the creative capabilities of the U.S.
What happens if you do this? Well, the creative people either give up or move offshore to countries that do not have such restrictive rules. There they can disassemble, reverse engineer, tinker and fiddle to their hearts content without needing a bevy of lawyers.
You can seee it coming now. Europe, Russia, China and maybe India are going to dominate the software industry as long as they avoid getting tied up in U.S. sponsored IP laws.
The last two programs I bought are DVD backup software - from Switzerland and Germany. I don't think the software can even be legally sold in the U.S. thanks to the MPAA.
"Freedom to innovate in the U.S.?" - I don't think so.
I have a friend who is a customs officer. If they take a dislike to you, they can make life very difficult for you immediately by ordering a body cavity search. In addition every time you ever travel by air again, you will get stopped and searched.
Furthermore, in Australia, the little immigration man who checks your passport, and idly asks you one or two penetrating questions, scribbles a little code on it. When you pass the card to the customs officer he looks at the code and decides there and then on a spot check.
Dumb things include:
Going away for four days to New York without a valid reason and coming back with a brand new laptop.
Customs guys know the street price of most electronics and the difference between an pentium III and IV.
My frined catches most of these dimwits with the simple request to turn out the pockets and open their wallets. That Amex reciept is a dead giveaway.
Suspicious
Just a few comments on the original memo and Baystar's statements.
The easiest way for Microsoft and Baystar to claim they have "No Financial Relations" with a straight face is for Microsoft to have given a "Put" option to Baystar. I'm betting that this is what they've done. This means that Microsoft has agreed to buy Baystar's SCO shares at some time in the future for a guaranteed price (ie baystar "puts" the shares to Microsoft). The option exercise price would be set so that Baystar therefore cannot lose money if SCO tanks and in addition would be guaranteed a substantial return on its investment. Baystar probably gets to keep the shares itself if SCO wins and its share price leaps. In other words Baystar is in a "can't lose" position and is probably set to double its money no matter what happens to SCO.
If SCO needs more money Microsoft will "introduce" more Venture Capital funds to SCO after providing the VC firm with said Put Option. No VC in his right mind is going to pass something like this up.
As for SCO's long term strategy (Don't get riled at the term "Long Term") it was obvious from the last para of original memo. I interpret it as saying that they intend to buy up whatever Unix IP they can find on the open market and use it as a foundation for even more lawsuits. The idea is to make themselves the dog in the manger in that no one is going to have clear title to anything involving Unix or Linux.
Their exit strategy as it says in the memo, is to then sell their IP portfolio to Microsoft, who will of course make licences available for a small fee, or appropriate the whole thing as Microsoft Linux.
So if you have any Unix patents in the cupboard, go and sell them to SCO;)
Slashdot Mirror
There is considerable historical material that demonstrates that societies that muzzle their creative instincts go to the rubbish bin of history faster then most. This is the danger that the U.S. faces. There is a common thread in Lessig's complaints about copyright laws, the DMCA, the SCO/Linux lawsuits, dumb patent laws and of course Microsoft's monopoly. By locking up IP you stifle the creative capabilities of the U.S. What happens if you do this? Well, the creative people either give up or move offshore to countries that do not have such restrictive rules. There they can disassemble, reverse engineer, tinker and fiddle to their hearts content without needing a bevy of lawyers. You can seee it coming now. Europe, Russia, China and maybe India are going to dominate the software industry as long as they avoid getting tied up in U.S. sponsored IP laws. The last two programs I bought are DVD backup software - from Switzerland and Germany. I don't think the software can even be legally sold in the U.S. thanks to the MPAA. "Freedom to innovate in the U.S.?" - I don't think so.
I have a friend who is a customs officer. If they take a dislike to you, they can make life very difficult for you immediately by ordering a body cavity search. In addition every time you ever travel by air again, you will get stopped and searched. Furthermore, in Australia, the little immigration man who checks your passport, and idly asks you one or two penetrating questions, scribbles a little code on it. When you pass the card to the customs officer he looks at the code and decides there and then on a spot check. Dumb things include: Going away for four days to New York without a valid reason and coming back with a brand new laptop. Customs guys know the street price of most electronics and the difference between an pentium III and IV. My frined catches most of these dimwits with the simple request to turn out the pockets and open their wallets. That Amex reciept is a dead giveaway. Suspicious
Just a few comments on the original memo and Baystar's statements. The easiest way for Microsoft and Baystar to claim they have "No Financial Relations" with a straight face is for Microsoft to have given a "Put" option to Baystar. I'm betting that this is what they've done. This means that Microsoft has agreed to buy Baystar's SCO shares at some time in the future for a guaranteed price (ie baystar "puts" the shares to Microsoft). The option exercise price would be set so that Baystar therefore cannot lose money if SCO tanks and in addition would be guaranteed a substantial return on its investment. Baystar probably gets to keep the shares itself if SCO wins and its share price leaps. In other words Baystar is in a "can't lose" position and is probably set to double its money no matter what happens to SCO. If SCO needs more money Microsoft will "introduce" more Venture Capital funds to SCO after providing the VC firm with said Put Option. No VC in his right mind is going to pass something like this up. As for SCO's long term strategy (Don't get riled at the term "Long Term") it was obvious from the last para of original memo. I interpret it as saying that they intend to buy up whatever Unix IP they can find on the open market and use it as a foundation for even more lawsuits. The idea is to make themselves the dog in the manger in that no one is going to have clear title to anything involving Unix or Linux. Their exit strategy as it says in the memo, is to then sell their IP portfolio to Microsoft, who will of course make licences available for a small fee, or appropriate the whole thing as Microsoft Linux. So if you have any Unix patents in the cupboard, go and sell them to SCO;)