__/ [ [H]omer ] on Tuesday 05 September 2006 06:48 \__
> Mark Kent wrote:
>> begin oe_protect.scr
>> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>
>>> Supreme Court To Hear Arguments On Software Patents And Open Source
>>>
>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>> | The opponents of proliferating software patents who see them as a
>>> | threat to open source software may finally get their day in
>>> | court--the U.S. Supreme Court.
>>> `----
>>>
>>>http://www.governmententerprise.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=192501175
>
>> What's going on here is so blindingly obvious that everyone can see
>> it. Even this article is reasonably clear about it. What nobody
>> seems to consider taking to task is the idiocy of making a patent
>> office a profit-centre; where are the politicians in the US
>> questioning such a clearly foolish move? Why is there /no/
>> opposition in the US?
>>
>> Looking to our side of the Atlantic, I sincerely hope that the EU
>> never falls into this childish trap.
>
> What I can't understand, is why commercial entities (like Microsoft)
> are even *allowed* to take part in a political decision making
> process, the whole purpose of which is (essentially) an investigation
> into the fairness of currently implemented business practise
> (i.e. patents).
>
I reckon you're referring to stories like this...
Changing the Report, After the Vote
,----[ Quote ]
| That agreement was nearly imperiled last weekend, though. Gerri
| Elliott, corporate vice president at Microsoft's Worldwide Public
| Sector division, sent an e-mail message to fellow commissioners Friday
| evening saying that she "vigorously" objected to a paragraph in which
| the panel embraced and encouraged the development of open source software
| and open content projects in higher education. The paragraph read like
| this:
|
| "The commission encourages the creation of incentives to promote
| the development of open-source and open-content projects at universities
| and colleges across the United States, enabling the open sharing of
| educational materials from a variety of institutions, disciplines, and
| educational perspectives. Such a portal could stimulate innovation, and
| serve as the leading resource for teaching and learning. New initiatives
| such as OpenCourseWare, the Open Learning Initiative, the Sakai Project,
| and the Google Book project hold out the potential of providing universal
| access both to general knowledge and to higher education."
`----
http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/09/01/commission
I thought it was worth adding for completeness. Microsoft holds government
roles. It's a puppet regime.
Best wishes,
Roy
--
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