Interview: Pieter Hintjens
,----[ Quote ]
| To be honest, the software sector, especially in the states, has been unable
| to take a solid position against software patents. Red Hat have been a long
| supporter of our cause, and I want to thank them for that. Sun... well, they
| seem unwilling to upset Microsoft, and Microsoft has been pushing hellbent
| for software patents in Europe, along with Siemens and Phillips, despite the
| fact that MS is the number one victim of software patent troll attacks in the
| USA. At a recent conference I attended, a Sun spokesman declared that
| trademarks were more of a threat to free software than software patents. Very
| freaky!
|
| The day that the software sector forms a clear front against software
| patents, as pharma does for a unitary patent system (where all industries are
| blighted by the same 20-year patent model), will be the day our cause comes
| close to winning.
`----
http://fosdem.org/2008/interview/pieter+hintjens
Lessig might indeed enter parliament after all. Can he defeat the influence of
bribed politicians who shill for their friends in industries which beg for
monopolisation through new laws and patents?
Three Minutes with Red Hat's Chief
,----[ Quote ]
| New CEO brings passion and an eclectic background to help him chart a new
| course for the Linux vendor.
`----
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;179081104
Recent:
Weekly Wire special: Linux.com quizzes new Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst (video)
,----[ Quote ]
| Jim Whitehurst and I met at JBoss World in Orlando, Florida, on the morning
| of February 13, 2008, pulled up a couple of chairs, turned on the camcorder,
| and talked. This video is totally uncut. Our idea here is to give you a sense
| of the man in a way no text interview can.
`----
http://www.linux.com/feature/127259
New Red Hat boss defines company's future
,----[ Quote ]
| "He's an operator," says Raven Zachary, an analyst with the 451 Group. "It's
| tough to run an airline. Even though there have been lots of critiques of the
| airlines, the reality is that he understands complex issues related to
| operations."
|
| That knowledge is what Red Hat appears to need as it looks to evolve past its
| Linux operating system roots. The company is attempting to mix the Linux
| operating system, virtualization, middleware, independent software vendor
| (ISV) applications and software delivered as services into an enterprise data
| centre platform.
`----
http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php?id=1290022236&rid=-50
Q&A: New Red Hat boss targets virtualization, execution as keys to future
,----[ Quote ]
| You have a strong business background, is signing a cross-patent licensing
| deal with Microsoft still bad business for Red Hat?
|
| If we knew what kind of patent issues we had that would be helpful. So it is
| hard to have productive conversation if we don't know what they are.
`----
http://www.linuxworld.com/news/2008/020708-ceo-jim-whitehurst-pilots-red.html?fsrc=rss-linux-news
ISPs demand record biz pays up if cut-off P2P users sue
,----[ Quote ]
| ISPs are calling on the record industry to put its money where its mouth is
| on illegal file-sharing, by underwriting the cost of lawsuits brought by
| people who are wrongly accused of downloading or uploading music.
|
| [...]
|
| It's the latest public detail from long-running private negotiations that
| have hit mainstream media headlines today. The lobbying campaign to have
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| government force ISPs to disconnect persistent illegal file-sharers scored a
| victory with a leak to The Times. The draft government document says: "We
| will move to legislate to require internet service providers to take action
| on illegal file-sharing."
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/12/anti_filesharing_paper_leak/
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5jkZFIwmc-8
Lessig: Required Reading: the next 10 years
,----[ Quote ]
| Yet governments continue to push ahead with this idiot idea -- both Britain
| and Japan for example are considering extending existing terms. Why?
|
| The answer is a kind of corruption of the political process. Or better,
| a "corruption" of the political process. I don't mean corruption in the
| simple sense of bribery. I mean "corruption" in the sense that the
| system is so queered by the influence of money that it can't even get
| an issue as simple and clear as term extension right.
`----
http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/003800.shtml#003800
RIAA, MPAA urge pro-copyright vows from presidential candidates
,----[ Quote ]
| One question, for instance, asks: "How would you promote the progress of
| science and creativity, as enumerated in the U.S. Constitution, by upholding
| and strengthening copyright law and preventing its diminishment?"
`----
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9821141-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Is Sarko Uxorious?
,----[ Quote ]
| What this neglects to take into account is the fact that falling into the
| public domain is a gain for the public - and hence the actual moment when it
| becomes part of the "national pop heritage" - and that the gain vastly
| outweighs any minimal effect it has on ageing rockers' royalties.
| Unfortunately, with this action, as with others (including the "three strikes
| and you're out" approach to fighting filesharing), Sarkozy shows himself to
| be an old man - however young his new wife may be.
`----
http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2008/02/is-sarko-uxorious.html
MEPs debate tightening up lobbying rules
,----[ Quote ]
| MEPs on Thursday launched the thorny debate on tightening rules covering the
| thousands of EU lobbyists in Brussels, with an initial discussion showing
| deputies in favour of defining the term "lobbyist" as broadly as possible but
| shying away from the 600-page rulebook that defines and confines lobbyists in
| the US.
|
| [...]
|
| For his part, Mr Stubb says he is not out to demonise lobbyists, whose
| activities have come to light recently during the ferocious lobbying on
| legislation that took place during the development of the chemicals, services
| and software patent laws.
`----
http://euobserver.com/9/25526
,----[ Quote ]
| "A source that deals with the company said unofficially that Gates
| proposed Microsoft's Digital Rights Management technology as a national
| standard to fight piracy at the governmental level."
`----
http://www.kommersant.com/p719683/r_528/
Leaked letter warns of open source 'threat to eco-system'
,----[ Quote ]
| leaked letter to the European Commission has revealed the extent of
| lobbying by proprietary software groups to prevent the widespread
| adoption of open-source software.
|
| Sent in response to a recent report on the role of open-source
| software in the European economy, Microsoft-funded pressure group, the
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| Initiative for Software Choice (ISC) warned of
| potentially dire effects if too much encouragement was given
| to open source software development.
`----
http://www.techworld.com/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=7109
|
|
