Gregnews on Lehmann, Kretschmer, China Daily

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/