If truth be told, few inventions are really worth patenting. Time and again, surveys show that in both America and Europe companies rate superior sales and service, lead time and secrecy as far more important than patents when it comes to profiting from innovation. And, although applying for patents is relatively cheap, the cost of maintaining them can be horrendous.
Read more »Legal - free software and the law - standards, formats, drm, legislation, licensing, etc.
Patent nonsense
http://www.economist.com –
Another Kind of Freedom
http://elevenislouder.blogspot.com –
It seems as if most people are for OpenSource but against any other form of distribution/development. For example, Microsoft maintains ownership of the software that they sell on store shelves. No one owns a copy of Windows except for Microsoft.
Read more »W3C proposes hardware interface
http://www.h-online.com –
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) draft for a "System Information API" specifies JavaScript functions for accessing the battery, CPU, sensors and other hardware characteristics of a device. For this purpose, the window.navigator object's SystemInfo interface has to implement the get, set and watch methods.
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Packaging Open Source, by Mark Webbink
http://www.groklaw.net –
There is an article by Mark Webbink, Esq., "Packaging Open Source", in the International Free and Open Source Software Law Review, Vol 1, No 2 (2009) that I think you'll find interesting. It compares various FOSS licenses and how they handle compilations and collective works.
Read more »Symbian OS goes open source
http://www.smartphonedaily.co.uk –
Symbian has annouced that it has completed the migration of its entire platform to open source. The move, which was completed four months ahead of schedule, now makes billions of dollars of code available to developers for free
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Judge Uwe Scharen is Validating Software Patents in Germany
http://boycottnovell.com –
Disturbing developments in Europe following heavy lobbying from Microsoft and its front groups
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Not All Copyright Assignment is Created Equal
http://ebb.org –
In an interview with IT Wire, Mark Shuttleworth argues that all copyright assignment systems are equal, saying further that what Intel, Canonical and other for-profit companies ask for in the process are the same things asked for by Free Software non-profit organizations like the Free Software Foundation.
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ODF is Winning in Europe; ‘Microsoft Press’ Spreads ODF FUD as OpenOffice.org Passes to Oracle
http://boycottnovell.com –
Victories for ODF, especially in Denmark; other developments that bring about better ODF support, still facing the usual FUD from Redmond
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Europe to Begin Digital Privacy Overhaul
http://www.esecurityplanet.com –
A top European official has announced plans to begin a major overhaul of European Union privacy laws, saying that the existing framework has failed to keep pace with technological innovation.
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SCO Germany forced to pay fine
http://www.h-online.com –
According to a letter seen by heise online, the German Federal Office of Justice last week launched summary proceedings against The SCO Group GmbH for "breaching regulations pertaining to the publication of its accounts." The proceedings were suspended after the imposed fine was paid. No information on the size of the fine is available.
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Proprietary File Formats conflict with Equal Opportunities
http://www.advogato.org –
In applying for jobs and contract opportunities, the first hurdle is the request for a CV in a proprietary document format. This article describes the approaches taken and the success stories, one at a time, by which the proprietary document format practices have been successfully changed.
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EFF: 12 Trends to Watch in 2010
http://www.eff.org –
It's the dawn of a new year. From our perch on the frontier of electronic civil liberties, EFF has collected a list of a dozen important trends in law, technology and business that we think will play a significant role in shaping online rights in 2010.
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Selling GPL Exceptions isn't Exceptional
http://www.linux-magazine.com –
Richard Stallman's willingness to accept the sale of exceptions to the GNU General Public License intrigues me. What intrigues me is not his acceptance of the idea. Rather, what fascinates me is how many people are reacting as if his comments are something new.
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The Unlicense: A License for No License
http://ostatic.com –
The GNU General Public License (GPL) is often described as "Copyleft" because it turns traditional copyright on its head to make code freer than traditional proprietary copyright licenses. Taking that a step further, some developers are embracing the Unlicense, a license that "disclaims" copyright interest in a piece of code altogether.
Read more »Here We Go Again: Video Standards War 2010
http://www.consortiuminfo.org –
Think of the words "standards war," and unless you're a standards wonk like m...oh, never mind...you're likely to think of the battle between the Betamax and VHS video tape formats
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