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Special 301: FOSS users. Now we're all Communists and Criminals
,----[ Quote ]
| There seems to be no respite from the
| predations of Microsoft FUD and the
| machinations of Big Business. Just when it
| seemed safe to come out of the closet and
| admit to being a user of free and open
| source software without being accused of
| being a Communist, it appears that we are
| now criminals tooâeven if we are not using
| pirated versions of proprietary software.
| The culprit this time is something called
| âSpecial 301â, an annual review of the
| status of foreign intellectual property
| laws carried out under the auspices of the
| Office of the US Trade Representative
| (USTR) which is an Executive Office of the
| President. Itâs definition of criminal
| would make criminals of every single user
| of FOSS.
|
| Special 301 is not a specific attack on
| individuals users of GNU/Linux. Itâs
| target is foreign governments with less
| restrictive copyright laws than the United
| States. You can bet your bottom dollar
| that it wouldnât stop there. Private
| individuals would be next. Now, I have an
| unscientific notion that many FOSS users
| are of a liberal, not to say leftwing
| bent. Iâm somewhat atypical here: anyone
| who knows me would probably describe me as
| being somewhere to the right of Atilla the
| Hun. So, being described as some pinko
| subversive causes me to smile â a knowing
| smile. I can live with that.
`----
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/special_301_foss_users_now_were_all_communists_and_criminals
Recent:
Is Open Source "Anti-Enterprise"?
,----[ Quote ]
| Ignoring all the crap that gets spewed,
| FOSS has done more good for more people in
| more parts of the planet than any of those
| legalised money-grabbing groups ever have.
`----
http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10015225o-2000673651b,00.htm
IIPA's Section 301 Filing Shows It's Really Not At All Interested In Reducing Copyright Infringement
,----[ Quote ]
| But if your goal is to actually reduce
| infringement, then wouldn't you want to
| encourage the use of legal software? And
| by encouraging the use of open source
| software, you are making it that much less
| likely that infringement will be a
| problem, since the software will be
| cheaper. Basically, the IIPA is flat out
| admitting that it's not actually
| interested in reduced copyright
| infringement. It's abusing the USTR's
| Special 301 process to set up
| protectionist policies for the companies
| and organizations it represents -- and
| trying to use that process to deny efforts
| to actually reduce infringement.
`----
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100224/0229248284.shtml
Big Content condemns foreign governments that endorse FOSS
http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/02/big-content-condemns-foreign-governments-that-endorse-foss.ars
Turning open source users into criminals
,----[ Quote ]
| A powerful US lobby group is trying to
| have pro-open source countries listed as
| being "anti-capitalism"
`----
http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Columns/11589.html
International Intellectual Property Alliance - The Disconnect
http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2010/02/international-intellectual-property.html
When using open source makes you an enemy of the state
,----[ Quote ]
| The US copyright lobby has long argued
| against open source software - now
| Indonesia's in the firing line for
| encouraging the idea in government
| departments
|
| It's only Tuesday and already it's been an
| interesting week for the world of digital
| rights. Not only did the British government
| changed the wording around its
| controversial 'three strikes' proposals,
| but the secretive anti-counterfeiting
| treaty, Acta, was back in the headlines.
| Meanwhile, a US judge is still deliberating
| over the Google book settlement.
|
| As if all that wasn't enough, here's
| another brick to add to the teetering tower
| of news, courtesy of Andres Guadamuz, a
| lecturer in law at the University of
| Edinburgh.
|
| Guadamuz has done some digging and
| discovered that an influential lobby group
| is asking the US government to basically
| consider open source as the equivalent of
| piracy - or even worse.
|
| What?
|
| It turns out that the International
| Intellectual Property Alliance, an umbrella
| group for organisations including the MPAA
| and RIAA, has requested with the US Trade
| Representative to consider countries like
| Indonesia, Brazil and India for its
| "Special 301 watchlist" because they use
| open source software.
`----
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/feb/23/opensource-intellectual-property
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