Re: [Patents] Gregnews on Lehmann, Kretschmer, China Daily

[Bernard Lang <Bernard.Lang@inria.fr>]

I did not find Lehman's article very good, not that I expected
anything from him.  He just plays on arguments for the naive readers,
which is of course the best way to achieve his aims in this kind of
medium.

http://www.careerjournal.com/columnists/managersjournal/20050831-managersjournal.html

Mechanical as ever, the Gregbot rants about copyright.  I am
interested in having more references to arguments against copyright.
If anyone can provide these ... I would appreciate.

---

The Chinese article is unaldurated FUD.
It would be nice to fully understand what is behind.


Bernard

* PILCH Hartmut <phm@a2e.de>, le 16-09-05, a écrit:
> GregNews reports and rants around the theme of defending the
> "science and logics" software patents against the "illogicality"
> of copyright.
> 
>  DELL SUED FOR SOFTWARE COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
> 
>  A good example of the shoddy thinking and abuse of science and law in the
>  copyright world is a new copyright lawsuit.  [...]
> 
>  Here's the silliness.  One news account writes:
> 
>         "[MCS] claims the Dell version mimics Advizia's appearance,
>         and functionality, and uses its copyrighted algorithms and
>         other intellectual property, without showing the Advizia
>         logo."
> 
>  [...]   
> 
> Then, as you might expect, Greg can't resist jeering that Advizia should
> have known that copyright isn't up to the task of protecting appearance
> and functionality and algorithms. 
> 
>  BRUCE LEHMAN'S GOOD, BUT HYPOCRITICAL WSJ DEFENSE OF SOFTWARE PATENTS
> 
>  Former PTO Commissioner, now IP-pork chasing consultant, Brucey Lehman has
>  an opinion piece, "Don't Fear Software Patents", in the August 30 edition
>  of the Wall Street Journal, page B2, defending software patents.  Usually
>  it's hard for me to agree with him on anything, given his contempt for
>  quality when it comes to IP policies and practices, but this time his
>  defense of software patents is pretty good. [...]
> 
>  [...]
> 
>  What puzzles Brucey is what is driving all of the emotions in the European
>  debate.  Between the lines I see him asking "Why doesn't my nice argument
>  convince everyone in Europe?". But he can't answer that question because
>  what drives the European debate is a nonsense - nonsense that Brucey and
>  his colleagues blindly and illogical defend - the nonsense of software
>  copyright.  
> 
>  [...]
> 
> Then comes the usual rant which attributes all kinds of "illogical" 
> positions
> to the opponents of software patents and claims that the proponents could
> easily win if only they could clearly disavow software copyright like Greg
> and thereby gain a consistent basis for their arguments.
>  
>  CHINA RESEARCHERS CRITICIZE OPEN SOURCE ECONOMICS
> 
>  The article, "Open Opposition" is available at:
>     http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-08/29/content_472979.htm
> 
>  Some quotes:
> 
>     "Indifference to knowledge-based products is the major obstacle to
>     China's software industry as well as the major source of rampant
>     piracy."  The business model is Linux is flawed, the [China Software
>     Industry Association] said in a report last week. ... The model has
>     thwarted the profitability of open-source software.
> 
>     Sun Yufang, a Chinese scholar who has long been researching Linux
>     software, says most Linux developers cannot make a living under
>     the current business model.  Most of these developers "either have
>     died or have focused on other businesses in past years", Sun says.
> 
> This again is suggested to GregNews readers as an argumentative weapon
> in their war against the "opensource movement" and against the 
> copyright-based
> software IP system which it supposedly represents.
> 
>  PAPER: USELESSNESS OF COPYRIGHT FOR PROMOTING PROGRESS
> 
>  Martin Kretschmer, an IP scholar in Europe, has a paper in the December
>  2004 First Monday arguing that copyright neither appears to support the
>  creative basis of society, nor does it make cultural materials available
>  in legal form that legitimises creative digital re-use.  The paper is at:
> 
>  http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_1/kretschmer
> 
> It should be noted that Kretschmer has also clearly voiced opposition to
> software patents by signing our Call for Action II.
> 
> Many aspects of today's use of copyright are indeed outrageous, especially
> when thinking of "cultural materials" and their "creative digial re-use".
> Films and musical works are being effectively locked out of the public
> sphere by copyright holders, who aren't even pursuing the in interests of
> the authors themselves.
> 
> This question is quite unrelated to the central question on which the
> swpat vs copyright debate raged: that of the scope of claimed property.
> 
> See also
> 
>       http://wiki.ffii.org/IndpropEn
> 
> on discussions about the directions of future reform toward an integrated
> system of "intellectual & industrial property".
> 
> --
> Hartmut Pilch, FFII.org, Munich Office +498918979927, Brussels +3227396262
> Protect Innovation, not Monopolies       http://www.economic-majority.com/

-- 
             Le brevet logiciel menace votre entreprise
               Software patents threaten your company
    Soutenez la Majorité Économique - Support the Economic Majority
                  http://www.economic-majority.com/

Bernard.Lang@inria.fr             ,_  /\o    \o/    Tel  +33 1 3963 5644
http://pauillac.inria.fr/~lang/  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  Fax  +33 1 3963 5469
            INRIA / B.P. 105 / 78153 Le Chesnay CEDEX / France
         Je n'exprime que mon opinion - I express only my opinion