Re: [Patents] DRM OS vs GPL OS

[iriXx <iriXx@iriXx.org>]

> Given their present state
> of mind, our political decision-makers are not likely to take any of
> the necessary measures to safeguard free competition. 

precisely... and using the 'war on terrorism as an excuse' they have a 
means to do this... which i feel is an appalling hijacking of the loss 
of life to achieve their means...
(and yes, i use the word hijacking deliberately there..)


> Instead we may
> see "e-government" and government-hyped "e-commerce" based on the
> WinTel DRM OS platform soon, effectively excluding GPL-based systems
> from public life, even without using any patents.


my concern is that there may well be a move to make DRM OS's law... 
owning an non-DRM OS might be a criminal offence ? certainly the CDBTPA 
and possibly EUCD could pave the way toward this... the DMCA has already 
been shown to be contrary to the US First Amendment and Fair Use laws, 
but that didnt stop it happening....

also, here in the UK last year we faced exactly the situation you 
describe of 'e-commerce' being limited to WinTel platforms, until 
protest by GNU/Linux and Mac OS users forced the government to make 
concessions so that we could access the site... this was documented by 
LinuxUser magazine, archives of past issues covering this story are at 
www.linuxuser.co.uk ...

best wishes

miriam



--
iriXx
www.iriXx.org

copyleft: creativity, technology and freedom?
info@copyleftmedia.org.uk
www.copyleftmedia.org.uk

 _
( )  ascii ribbon against html email
 X
/ \    cat /dev/sda1 > /dev/dsp


 "Gag me with a Volvo!"
        - Linus Torvalds