From sudhir75 at hotmail.com Wed Jun 1 01:03:32 2005 From: sudhir75 at hotmail.com (sudhir krishnaswamy) Date: Tue, 31 May 2005 19:33:32 +0000 Subject: [Commons-Law] The IP Moot problem Message-ID: For those interested - here it goes. I can't seem to put the pictures in - please go to www.ipmoot.org to the 2005 Competition for the full details Best Sudhir Moot Court Problem : 2005 The Facts � Nanotechnology - Background Note The PhilthKleen Systems Ltd. (PSL) Patent Specification � The Dubot Inc Patent Specification The Facts PhilthKleen Systems Ltd (PSL) is a company based in Nanopore. The company developed a dust cleaning system, based on nanotechnology. The system uses nanobots for cleaning dust. Patents for the dust cleaning system have been granted in Nanopore, US, EU, Japan and a few other countries. The nanobot is called DUSTNIBBLER, which is a registered Trademark in Nanopore. It was an instant hit ever since it was launched in the market shortly after the patent application was filed in September 2002. (Annexure A- a note on DUSTNIBBLER and advertising flyer) Dubot Inc, a start-up company formed in January 2004, by a few former employees of PhilthKleen Systems Ltd (PSL) has also started manufacturing dust-cleaning system using nanobots, which in addition to removing dust also destroys microscopic organisms such as dust mites. This is being marketed as DUSTMUNCHER, for which a trademark application has been filed in Nanopore. A patent application is pending in Nanopore and the US. (Annexure B- a note on DUSTMUNCHER and advertising flyer) As a promotional campaign, Dubot Inc has launched a website www.dubot.com/dustmuncher/discountgame.xml with an online interactive game. In this game, the player has to accumulate points by destroying biological organisms using an icon called NIBLERR. If the player gathers 100,000 points, he gets a discount on DUSTMUNCHER. Issues PhilthKleen Systems Ltd (PSL) has now instituted a suit against Dubot Inc in Nanopore stating that: 1. Dubot is infringing their patent. 2. Defamation of the product of PSL in the cyber world since the player never wins and name of the icon NIBLERR closely resembles PSL's DUSTNIBBLER. 3. PSL states that the former employees, who are now the founders of Dubot, have misappropriated their Trade Secret. 4. Infringement of Trade Mark/Copying of Trade Dress (in Flyers). Dubot Inc has countered these allegations stating that: 1. Dubot contends that PSL patent is not valid since there is an article published in 1974. Dubot contends that the DUSTMUNCHER does more than the DUSTNIBBLER as it also destroys biological organisms. 2. Dubot contends that NIBLERR, pronounced as "NIBBLER", is a commonly used term and that NIBBLER is a synonym of MUNCHER. 3. Dubot counters this allegation by saying that they have based their device on the published article and they have invented the dust-mite eating capability. 4. Dubot contends that the form and shape of the nanobots are functional and therefore there cannot be an allegation of copying PSL's nanobot. The PhilthKleen Systems Ltd Website The Dubot Inc Website The Flyers _________________________________________________________________ Can�t have enough of SRK? http://server1.msn.co.in/sp05/iifa/ Help him bag the award. From abcteesta at gmail.com Wed Jun 1 10:44:35 2005 From: abcteesta at gmail.com (teesta hans) Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 10:44:35 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] The IP Moot problem In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hii Please check the site www.ipmot.org !!!!!!!!!!!!! as the link for game reffered herein the problem is not proper.. Rgrds Teesta On 6/1/05, sudhir krishnaswamy wrote: > For those interested - here it goes. I can't seem to put the pictures in - > please go to www.ipmoot.org to the 2005 Competition for the full details > > Best > Sudhir > > Moot Court Problem : 2005 > The Facts • Nanotechnology - Background Note > The PhilthKleen Systems Ltd. (PSL) Patent Specification • The Dubot Inc > Patent Specification > The Facts > PhilthKleen Systems Ltd (PSL) is a company based in Nanopore. The company > developed a dust cleaning system, based on nanotechnology. The system uses > nanobots for cleaning dust. Patents for the dust cleaning system have been > granted in Nanopore, US, EU, Japan and a few other countries. > > The nanobot is called DUSTNIBBLER, which is a registered Trademark in > Nanopore. It was an instant hit ever since it was launched in the market > shortly after the patent application was filed in September 2002. (Annexure > A- a note on DUSTNIBBLER and advertising flyer) > > Dubot Inc, a start-up company formed in January 2004, by a few former > employees of PhilthKleen Systems Ltd (PSL) has also started manufacturing > dust-cleaning system using nanobots, which in addition to removing dust also > destroys microscopic organisms such as dust mites. This is being marketed as > DUSTMUNCHER, for which a trademark application has been filed in Nanopore. A > patent application is pending in Nanopore and the US. (Annexure B- a note on > DUSTMUNCHER and advertising flyer) > > As a promotional campaign, Dubot Inc has launched a website > www.dubot.com/dustmuncher/discountgame.xml with an online interactive game. > In this game, the player has to accumulate points by destroying biological > organisms using an icon called NIBLERR. If the player gathers 100,000 > points, he gets a discount on DUSTMUNCHER. > > Issues > PhilthKleen Systems Ltd (PSL) has now instituted a suit against Dubot Inc in > Nanopore stating that: > > 1. Dubot is infringing their patent. > 2. Defamation of the product of PSL in the cyber world since the player > never wins and name of the icon NIBLERR closely resembles PSL's DUSTNIBBLER. > 3. PSL states that the former employees, who are now the founders of > Dubot, have misappropriated their Trade Secret. > 4. Infringement of Trade Mark/Copying of Trade Dress (in Flyers). > > Dubot Inc has countered these allegations stating that: > > 1. Dubot contends that PSL patent is not valid since there is an article > published in 1974. > Dubot contends that the DUSTMUNCHER does more than the DUSTNIBBLER as > it also destroys biological organisms. > 2. Dubot contends that NIBLERR, pronounced as "NIBBLER", is a commonly > used term and that NIBBLER is a synonym of MUNCHER. > 3. Dubot counters this allegation by saying that they have based their > device on the published article and they have invented the dust-mite eating > capability. > 4. Dubot contends that the form and shape of the nanobots are functional > and therefore there cannot be an allegation of copying PSL's nanobot. > > The PhilthKleen Systems Ltd Website > The Dubot Inc Website > > > > The Flyers > > _________________________________________________________________ > Can't have enough of SRK? http://server1.msn.co.in/sp05/iifa/ Help him bag > the award. > > _______________________________________________ > commons-law mailing list > commons-law at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/commons-law > From manu_shahalia at hotmail.com Wed Jun 1 17:20:25 2005 From: manu_shahalia at hotmail.com (MANU LUV SHAHALIA) Date: Wed, 01 Jun 2005 17:20:25 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Response to Black Label In-Reply-To: <20050531172757.75050226D2@webmail219.herald.ox.ac.uk> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050601/533f4a8b/attachment.html From dev.gangjee at st-catherines.oxford.ac.uk Wed Jun 1 19:41:16 2005 From: dev.gangjee at st-catherines.oxford.ac.uk (Dev Gangjee) Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 15:11:16 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Commons-Law] Response to Black Label - Manu's point In-Reply-To: References: <20050531172757.75050226D2@webmail219.herald.ox.ac.uk> Message-ID: <20050601141116.E18EC13242@webmail221.herald.ox.ac.uk> An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: not available Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050601/22d911d5/attachment.pl From manu_shahalia at hotmail.com Thu Jun 2 10:10:10 2005 From: manu_shahalia at hotmail.com (MANU LUV SHAHALIA) Date: Thu, 02 Jun 2005 10:10:10 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Black Label In-Reply-To: <20050601141116.E18EC13242@webmail221.herald.ox.ac.uk> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050602/b33eec3b/attachment.html From dev.gangjee at st-catherines.oxford.ac.uk Thu Jun 2 13:13:36 2005 From: dev.gangjee at st-catherines.oxford.ac.uk (Dev Gangjee) Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2005 08:43:36 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Commons-Law] Re: Black Label - second response to Manu Message-ID: <20050602074336.0C5E1226CA@webmail218.herald.ox.ac.uk> An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: not available Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050602/99e13611/attachment.pl From sudhir at circuit.sarai.net Thu Jun 2 13:12:30 2005 From: sudhir at circuit.sarai.net (sudhir at circuit.sarai.net) Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2005 09:42:30 +0200 Subject: [Commons-Law] Conference On Invention and Authorship Message-ID: Dear all I suspect many on this list would be interested in the Conference below Best Sudhir CON/TEXTS OF INVENTION A working conference of the Society for Critical Exchange Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio April 20-22, 2006 With support from the Center for Law, Technology, and the Arts at Case Western Reserve University School of Law; the History of Science Department at Harvard University; the Washington College of Law at American University; and the Morris Fishbein Center for the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Chicago This conference interrogates the social and cultural construction of invention - the diverse ways in which invention has been conceptualized in the arts and sciences in the broadest sense, including literature, the fine arts, entertainment, the physical and life sciences, law, economics, medicine, engineering, agriculture, education, communications, computation, finance, and business. Emphasis will be on the institutional cultures, rhetorics, and histories of invention across these fields. In this way the Society seeks to extend and deepen the inquiry of its long-standing project on "Intellectual Property and the Construction of Authorship". See: http://www.cwru.edu/affil/sce/IPCA_main.html Papers reflecting upon the impact of the "critique of authorship" will thus be especially welcome. The conference will include lectures and panel discussions; to facilitate discussion, papers selected for panels will circulate in advance of the conference. TOPICS: Topics may include (but are not limited to): - the author as inventor - the inventor as author - imitation and originality - psychologies of creativity - pathologies such as writer's (or inventor's) block - genius - hack(ing) - tradition and the individual talent, including the anxiety of influence - forgery - crimes such as plagiarism and piracy - the inventor as hero - invention vs. discovery - simultaneous discovery - joint/collective invention - useful and useless knowledge - the idea/expression distinction - invention vs. innovation - material and social inputs to invention - invention policy - narratives of invention - depictions of invention, including patent drawings - invisible invention - inventing organisms - invention in rhetorical theory - genre and invention - invention and memory - invention in popular and children's literature - pedagogies of invention - invention and self-help, including creativity workshops and invention promotion services - cross-cultural perspectives on invention - invention and power - imperialism and invention - universities and invention - rhetorics of entrepreneurship - representations of collaboration - corporate authorship/invention - economies of invention - legal incentives and disincentives - private and public domains - discourses of intellectual commons, including free software and open source - collage and sampling - geographies of invention - ethnography of invention - gender and invention PAPER SUBMISSION PROCEDURE: Please send paper abstracts (no full papers please), a CV of no more than three pages, and any suggestions for panel topics by October 5 to: Email: MAILTO:dar29 at case.edu CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS: Olufunmilayo Arewa, Law, Case Western Reserve University Mario Biagioli, History of Science, Harvard University Peter Jaszi, Law, American University Adrian Johns, History of Science, University of Chicago Martha Woodmansee, English and Law, Case Western Reserve University _________________________________ From pedro_paranagua at yahoo.com.br Fri Jun 3 00:16:04 2005 From: pedro_paranagua at yahoo.com.br (=?windows-1252?Q?Pedro_de_Paranagu=E1_Moniz?=) Date: Thu, 02 Jun 2005 19:46:04 +0100 Subject: [Commons-Law] WIPO online debate on IP and information society (June1-15) Message-ID: <429F53EC.6070406@yahoo.com.br> Want to be officially heard? Chance to participate. cheers, Pedro. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [A2k] WIPO online debate on IP and information society (June1-15) Date: Tue, 31 May 2005 12:42:07 -0400 From: To: Ecommerce at lists.essential.org, a2k discuss list ONLINE FORUM ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY June 1 - 15, 2005 Through an online forum, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will provide a unique opportunity for all to take part in a dynamic discussion on the role of intellectual property in the Information Society. The Online Forum on Intellectual Property in the Information Society will be hosted by WIPO from June 1 to 15, 2005, at http://www.wipo.int/ipisforum/. The WIPO Online Forum is designed to enable and encourage an open discussion on issues related to intellectual property and the information society, in light of the goals of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Comments will be invited on 10 themes: 1.The WSIS Declaration of Principles sets out a vision for the information society – how can the intellectual property system support this vision? 2.The intellectual property system and freedom of expression and creativity: Help or hindrance? 3.The public domain and open access models of information creation: at odds with the intellectual property system or enabled by it? 4.What is the impact of copyright law, both at international and national levels, on education and research? 5.What are the rights and responsibilities of intellectual property rightsholders? 6.Global partnerships to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals: what role for intellectual property? 7.How is intellectual property policy made for the information society: and who makes it? 8.How can cultural and intellectual diversity of traditional communities be respected in the information society? 9.Emerging business models for distributing intellectual property online: opportunity or threat? 10.What are the challenges for enforcement of intellectual property rights in the digital environment? Anyone who has an interest in these topics will be free to post their comments on the WIPO Online Forum over a two-week period beginning June 1, 2005. Each theme page will contain a commentary about the issue and list of questions to consider, background resources and a posting of comments made. WIPO is looking forward to a lively and extensive debate in this Online Forum, which, it is hoped will include comments from all stakeholders, as well as the general public. This initiative is part of WIPO’s continuing efforts to raise awareness about intellectual property issues, encourage discussion and ensure that the intellectual property system responds to the concerns of all stakeholders. The conclusions of the Online Forum will form part of WIPO’s contribution to WSIS. For further information please contact: +41 22 338 8138, or email: ecommerce at wipo.int. _______________________________________________ A2k mailing list A2k at lists.essential.org http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/a2k ____________________________________________________ Yahoo! Mail, cada vez melhor: agora com 1GB de espaço grátis! http://mail.yahoo.com.br From pedro_paranagua at yahoo.com.br Sat Jun 4 04:49:28 2005 From: pedro_paranagua at yahoo.com.br (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Pedro_de_Paranagu=E1_Moniz?=) Date: Sat, 04 Jun 2005 00:19:28 +0100 Subject: [Commons-Law] Brazilian Chamber of Deputies unanimously approves parliamentary bill to free Aids drug patents Message-ID: <42A0E580.2040300@yahoo.com.br> http://www.aids.gov.br/ Chamber of Deputies unanimously approves parliamentary bill to free Aids drug patents The Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Commission of the Chamber of Deputies (CCJ) unanimously approved, this Wednesday, Bill Number 22/03 submitted by Federal Deputy Roberto Gouveia (PT-São Paulo). This Bill modifies Article 18 of the Brazilian Patents Law (9.279/96), thereby freeing Aids drugs, together with their manufacturing processes, from patent coverage. This will enable Brazilian manufacturing laboratories to make such drugs. Deputies from different political parties have taken the view that public health interests as well as those related to life itself take precedence over industrial rights and they therefore voted unanimously for the constitutionality of the proposal put forward by Deputy Roberto Gouveia. Deputy Antonio Carlos Biscaia (PT-Rio de Janeiro), the Reporter for the bill, explained that protection under the Constitution of industrial inventions is "not absolute", but conditional on the interests of society as a whole. The Bill will now proceed to the Federal Senate for appraisal. Voting on the Bill in the CCJ was accompanied by activists from all over Brazil, together with representatives of the National STD/Aids Program. Every time there was a vote cast in favor of the Bill the activists responded with loud applause, raising placards supporting approval of the Bill. When the Table Chairman, Federal Deputy José Mentor (PT-Sao Paulo), announced the end result of the vote, Plenary Number 1 of the Annex to the Chamber of Deputies witnessed emotional scenes. Activists, parliamentarians and representatives of the Federal Government embraced one another and congratulated each other on the victory. A number of them were moved to tears. Roberto Gouveia was particularly touched by the outcome of the vote and said he was confident that the Senate would go ahead and approve the measure. He said "the Bill will enter the Federal Senate with strong backing, totally legitimized by all the commissions that it has transited". Deputy Gouveia added that the proposal does not fly in the face of any international agreement. "On the contrary", he declared, "we are doing what the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates. We are acting in defense of life itself". Laurinha Brelaz of the Manaus Friendship and Solidarity Network considered that approval of the Bill in the CCJ was an important landmark in the struggle against the Aids epidemic. She declared that "the Bill will make it possible to manufacture cheaper medicines, therefore increasing and ensuring access to treatment for Aids patients". Laurinha went on to call attention to the fact that the Bill still has to go through the Senate and for that reason the movement in its support "must continue its active role, otherwise the multinational drug companies can try to bring influence to bear on our Senators". Currently, eight of the 16 antiretroviral drugs used in Aids treatment and distributed through the Public Health network in Brazil are under patent protection. Over 70% of the amount spent by the Ministry of Health on acquiring anti-Aids drugs are in fact spent on only three of these particular medicines. For the Director of the Brazilian National STD/Aids Program, Dr Pedro Chequer, approval of this Bill will mark a watershed internationally and can open up new negotiating possibilities. In Dr Chequer's words "this crowns the Doha Declaration and is in line with what the World Health Organization has been extolling - that medical drugs for treating Aids are a right of humanity". The Bill was voted conclusively and now goes to the Federal Senate. There is no requirement for it to be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies Plenary. If it is approved by the Senate with no amendments, it will then be submitted to the President of the Republic for ratification. Communication Section National STD/Aids Program Ministry of Health Brazil +55-61-448-8016/8018 _______________________________________________________ The following is Roberto Gouveia's justification and the original text of Bill Number 22/03 CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES PARLIAMENTARY BILL (submitted by Mr Roberto Gouveia) Covers the invention of medication for the prevention and treatment of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome SIDA/Aids and the procedure for its procurement as non-patentable materials. The National Congress decrees: Art. 1º.......................................................................... ............................................... ART. 18 of Law n.º 9.279, of 14 May 1996, comes into force with the following additional clause IV: "Art.18..................................................................... .................................................... IV - the medication, together with its respective procurement procedure, specifically for the prevention and treatment of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome SIDA/Aids," Art.2º...................................................................... .....................................................This law enters into force on the date of its publication. JUSTIFICATION In homage to ex-Deputy Eduardo Jorge, who no longer graces the floor of the Federal Legislature, we re-submit the following Bill that was introduced at his initiative during the last legislative period. An examination of Law n.º 9.279/96 leads one to the conclusion that the protection conferred either directly or indirectly on the inventor of the product or process in articles 42,44, 68, 69, 73 in a variety of measures, is so broad that in many cases this results in economic or commercial abuse under the aegis of the law itself. The industrial sector that is most well-placed to proceed in this manner is, without doubt, the advanced chemistry sector and most specifically the drug industry. It is not by chance that the "lobby" representing these pharmaceutical firms is highly active in both Legislative and Executive circles, as can be observed by the actions aimed at delaying to the maximum the application of Law No. 9787/99, known as the Generics Law, or at bringing influence to bear on governmental regulations for the application of the same. At the present time, humanity is facing one of the most serious health problems of all time - the AIDS pandemic - which continues to spread and to kill millions of people every year despite all the scientific knowledge that has been accumulated to date. Currently, it is estimated that there are 30 million people infected throughout the world. Of these around 22 millions are Africans living mainly in the poor countries to the south of the Sahara. The 9th June 1999 edition of 'Veja' magazine tells of the drama through which that continent is passing. Some excerpts from that article are reproduced below as illustration: "In the heart of Africa a time-bomb is ticking away. This will kill more that 22 million men, women and children over the coming decade. This figure is 200 times greater than all the victims of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945. Or 100 times more than the total of deaths that occurred during the Vietnam War. (...) Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s, 11.5 million people have died in southern Africa as victims of the AIDS epidemic - a number almost equal to the population of the city of São Paulo. (...) In Sub-Saharan Africa in 1997, 1.5 million children were orphaned as the result of AIDS - almost 90% of the world total (...) Not even the richest country in Africa was spared the many deaths arising from the epidemic. In little over ten years, South Africa saw 2.9 million cases of AIDS emerge from almost zero, leaving a sad trail of 360.000 deaths in their wake. (...) South Africa, with its diamond and gold mines, has an annual budget of approximately 10 million dollars to deal with AIDS but this is not sufficient even to pay fo the AZT required to reduce the chances of contaminated pregnant women passing the infection onto their babies." The government of that country is not resigned and does not feel that it has its hands tied in its endeavor to try and revert the calamitous situation. Two years ago, a law was introduced that allows local firms to produce generic versions of patented anti-AIDS drugs or to import them from countries where they are cheaper. As can be expected, a range of reactions has been forthcoming from the multinational drug companies. As journalist Philip Shenon, in an article in "The NewYork Times", and published in Portuguese in Brazil, says: "The United States drug industry, with the help of the Clinton administration, is trying to protect its patents, preventing developing countries that are suffering from the AIDS epidemic from producing generic versions of certain drugs which at present are too expensive for the majority of victims outside the United States. The drug companies are alarmed at the efforts being made by South Africa to allow local firms to produce generic versions of patented anti-AIDS drugs or to import such medicines from countries where they can obtain them more cheaply. (...) As the result of a series of legal battles in South Africa, American companies have succeeded to date in blocking the law that was introduced two years ago aimed at reducing the price of anti-AIDS drugs and that would have enabled them to be manufactured locally or imported without the permission of the owners of the patents. (...) In the United States, these drugs can cost an individual patient over US$ 10 thousand a year. The drugs are sold in South Africa for a similar price. (...)" Brazil has around 600,000 carriers of the AIDS vírus, HIV. According to a World Bank forecast, back in the 1980s, Brazil was likely to have 1.2 million people infected by the year 2000. The 597,000 carriers include people who have already developed AIDS and actual deaths are excluded. Unlike the notifications of AIDS cases, the figures covering people with HIV are estimates. In these circumstances, we cannot accept passively the exorbitant prices imposed on both the infected people and the public coffers of the drugs that are used specifically for treating AIDS. The Bill that is now before you has the same aim as the law passed in South Africa - that is, the possibility for local industries to produce interchangeable medical drugs. Interchangeable drugs are those that are the therapeutic equivalent of the innovative or reference drug. Our country needs to treat its sick people in the most efficient way possible. If local firms are permitted to manufacture generic versions, and no doubt the selling price will be lower than that of the branded drugs, this will lead to greater efficiency in the future: less expensive medicines, lower public health outgoings and more jobs available. ROBERTO GOUVEIA Federal Deputy PT ____________________________________________________ Yahoo! Mail, cada vez melhor: agora com 1GB de espaço grátis! http://mail.yahoo.com.br From shekhar at crit.org.in Sun Jun 5 02:02:39 2005 From: shekhar at crit.org.in (Shekhar Krishnan) Date: Sat, 4 Jun 2005 21:32:39 +0100 Subject: [Commons-Law] Mumbai Free Map Message-ID: <9bd41d1116e5a85477001c0fda4dc916@crit.org.in> Dear All: Please see the latest demo of the Mumbai Free Map on http://freemap.crit.org.in This now contains detailed vector layers for roads, railways, buildings and plots, projected onto a satellite composite image of the city. The data has been sourced from existing municipal development plans, surveys, and maps, which we have scanned, traced and stitched together with our archive of project materials at CRIT. This project has been developed using completely free and open source software (Map Server, GRASS, QGIS) and copyleft and public geographic data. The project web page is on http://www.crit.org.in/projects/gis and we welcome comments and feedback on it as we begin developing an interface by which to annotate the maps and develop the Mumbai Free Map as an open source and interactive city archive and community information infrastructure. Regards, S.K. _____ Shekhar Krishnan CRIT (Collective Research Initiatives Trust) B-43, Shravasti Goregaon-Malad Link Road Malad (West), Mumbai 400064 India http://www.crit.org.in/members/shekhar From prashant at nalsartech.org Mon Jun 6 09:32:03 2005 From: prashant at nalsartech.org (Prashant Iyengar) Date: Mon, 6 Jun 2005 09:32:03 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] some interesting news items Message-ID: <20050606035025.8167428D8BD@mail.sarai.net> Hi, Found some interesting news items in today's news which I though I'd share. The first is a trademark dispute between Jet Airways Inc (USA) and Jet Airways India. Jet Airways Inc appears to have petitioned the US govt alleging that Jet Airways India is funded by the Al Qaeda and therefore it's mark should not be recognized. The second is a column titled "What's free and What's not" by Abhijit Das who heads Microsoft India. I'm including it as a prime example of the Fear/Uncertainty/Doubt (FUD) tactic that Microsoft routinely employs to dissuade people from using Linux. The third article is one about Lalu Toys.. Yes, they're making them now. Although there's no litigation involved (yet), it could be of some value to anyone studying rights of publicity in the Indian context.. Cheers, Prashant Ps. Apologies for not posting the direct links to the newspaper sites. `JET AIRWAYS INC IS NOT CERTIFIED AIRLINE' (TRADEMARK DISPUTE) Source: The Hindu Business Line JET Airways Inc, which has filed a petition against Jet Airways India for its alleged links to the Al-Qaeda, does not appear to have made any application to fly in the US and has no planes registered in its name, according to a release issued by Jet Airways India today. Jet Airways Inc is also not a certified airline, the release added. Jet Airways Inc has filed a petition with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) saying that since Jet Airways India was started in 1991, it has been funded by the Al Qaeda, specifically the "designated global terrorist, Dawood Ibrahim". The DOT is currently reviewing these objections. Meanwhile, Jet Airways India has said that the primary motivation of Jet Airways Inc in filing the objection is a trade name claim by that company that is currently before the US Patent and Trademark Office. http://www.nalsartech.org /tikiwiki/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=5194 ABHIJIT DAS(MICROSOFT) : WHAT'S FREE AND WHAT'S NOT? Source: The Financial Express The consumer mindset has undergone a sea change over the past years. Whether it's a mobile phone, television, microwave or a PC, ease of use and reliability bundled into a cost-effective package is what consumers are looking for. The decision to buy a PC has gone beyond the realms of a simple hardware software consideration. The more savvy consumers and enterprises are now debating the choice between licence software or open source software. Linux is the most commonly used OSS where the distributors charge customers, based on a yearly maintenance model. With over 300 versions of Linux available today, the consumers need to evaluate both the options on parameters like ease of use, inter-operability, reliability, security and cost. http://www.nalsartech.org/tikiwiki/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=5205 LALUJI GIVES BARBIE A RUN FOR MONEY (LALU TOYS) Source: The Hindustan Times What does Laluji tell Barbie when he meets her in Patna? "Move over from the toyshop shelves - because even there, I rule." Laluji is Lalu Prasad Yadav's reinvention of Toy Story: Set In Bihar. Priced at Rs 144, Laluji - in his trademark white khadi and the sleeves of his kurta extending up to his palm - has become a hot-ticket item in toyshops all over Bihar's capital. Speed Age - a Mumbai-based company - was quick to spot a business opportunity while the Opposition and Lalu-bashers were getting worked up over the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader's appointment as Railway minister. The company decided to draw on Lalu's mass appeal and make a toy out of him. Barbie, the all-time favourite, is being a given a run for her money because Laluji is getting in the grown-ups along with the children. Pradeep Jain, proprietor of Khushi Sports and Toys shop, says, "There's a craze for Laluji and we've been doing good business. Everyone who comes to our shop takes note of it. Even if they don't buy it, they invariably admire it and have good things to say." http://www.nalsartech.org/tikiwiki/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=5200 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050606/1a822afb/attachment.html From hbs.law at gmail.com Tue Jun 7 18:39:17 2005 From: hbs.law at gmail.com (Hasit seth) Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 09:09:17 -0400 Subject: [Commons-Law] Why Makes Software Tick? Message-ID: <8b60429e0506070609638d63f8@mail.gmail.com> Hi, I always wonder what are the factors that make software such a rapidly growing field? Perhaps no other applied science has grown with such rapidity. Certainly no other applied science has affected so many aspects of life in such a positive way as computer science has done. Lot of people are interested in the community aspect of software - how free software can help bridge digital divide, how freedom to alter code "perhaps" leads to better code, sharing, collaboration and so on. While all this is noble and fine, I guess the spirit of innovation driving the computer science revolution has little care for community sociological stuff. The real joy of developing new software is just creating something cool. Just like artist create art because they want to, not because they want to feed some art theories. The whole set of Xerox PARC inventions (ethernet, mouse, GUIs....) was created within 3 years of bringing very smart people together, each of whom created cool inventions in individual capacity and as a group too. Invention and innovation is perhaps more personal phenomenon than it is social. Another great institution is Bell Labs which created among other things - the mother of all UNIX clones (e.g., Linux), original UNIX system itself. Bell Lab's Rob Pike (I have mentioned him before on this list) is one of the original contributors to the UNIX system. Rob worked at Bell Labs for a quarter century before he quit to work for Google. Below is an interesting article that gives a peek into Pike's pysche who is a good example of someone having that "spirt of software invention and innovation". There is another hidden point in this article, as to what is the future of software? If software moves to a services model (Google is one example, though the service is "free") can free software work in a services model? Google is neither open source nor gives its services for "free" in the true sense of the word, but still it works? why and how? Is that bad or good? Regards, Hasit Seth ============================================== Goooood move Physicist trades job at Bell Labs for a spot in a cool playground for twenty-somethings Sunday, June 05, 2005 BY KEVIN COUGHLIN Star-Ledger Staff MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Rob Pike says friends were puzzled when he left New Jersey's Bell Labs in 2002 and headed for Silicon Valley. The tech bubble had already popped. Why would he want to chuck nearly a quarter-century career at a Nobel Prize-winning address for some goofy-sounding Web search company -- run by geeks scarcely half his age? Google, that's why. As Google's share price flirts with $290 each, few would second-guess "Commander" Pike, as his Google business card now identifies the computer scientist. While Lucent Technologies, which owns Bell Labs, struggles to stabilize itself in the telecom world, Google is minting young billionaires. Its $72 billion market capitalization dwarfs the economies of many countries. Microsoft's founder Bill Gates is taking notes. But all that money talk just bores Pike. "I honestly don't know anyone who came here to work for the money," says Pike, who, at 48, feels like he has executed a perfect dive into the Fountain of Youth. "I took a huge pay cut to come here. The reason is, it's an exciting place to work." He says a dozen or so Bell Labbers have flocked to Google, the center of the Internet universe right now. That it can lure talent of Pike's caliber, from the venerable birthplace of the transistor, is both a testament to Google's brash vision and a reflection of Lucent's bumpy fortunes. Like Bell Labs in its heyday, Google has become a magnet for technology's best and brightest minds. They are coming from such places as NASA, MIT and Berkeley. Google recently lured Adam Bosworth, who helped develop Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser, from BEA Software to become vice president of engineering. And just as the old AT&T telephone monopoly allowed Bell Labbers to pursue pure science for the public good, Google, which has an informal motto of "Don't be evil," carves out 20 percent of employees' schedules for their own intellectual pursuits. When he isn't tweaking Google's powerful search software, Pike helps out on a national telescope project that aims to unravel cosmic mysteries of "dark matter." He says it took him 15 years to meet the president of Bell Labs. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the Stanford whiz kids who started Google in 1998, and Chief Executive Eric Schmidt are no strangers around the Googleplex. "They think they can make a difference," Pike says of Page, 32, and Brin, 31. "Their biggest influence is to make people think bigger. They tend to push people to launch (services) earlier than they want, and bigger than they want, and it really works," Pike says, citing Google Maps and Gmail as examples. It's not all fun and games. "You come to work, work late, and go home with a head full of ideas," says Pike, a physicist educated at the University of Toronto and the California Institute of Technology. "We work hard here -- but are rewarded by being able to play hard." Still, jumping to Google would seem to pose severe hazards of culture shock for someone in mid-life. The Googleplex, as their spacious corporate headquarters here is known, resembles a glimmering playground for 20-somethings. Pike sits down with a reporter inside a gleaming white tent, erected in a cavernous glass building full of quirky angles and enormous spaces. Projectors stream keywords from users' (G-rated) Google searches onto walls of lobbies, where visitors find free fruit drinks and electric massage chairs. Lounges sport oversized beanbag chairs and Lego toys. The cafeteria serves free gourmet dishes such as mahogany salmon and portabello Wellington, prepared until recently by a chef who cooked for the Grateful Dead. There are beach volleyball matches in the courtyard, roller hockey games in the parking lot, and a small pool where swimmers exercise against an artificial current. Some employees get around on scooters. The place smells young. "Google treats employees like college students because they were recently," Pike says. "That's weird. But it's better than being treated as geriatric." Pike skips Google's annual dance and the ski trips to Tahoe. But last week he joined younger cohorts at a company screening of "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith." Working with brainiac kids keeps him sharp, he says. To keep up physically, he bikes 100 miles a week. Pike's Web site cheerfully sports X-rays from a near-fatal crash. Google crackles with a creative energy that reminds Pike of Bell Labs, before the labs were split off from AT&T, before most of his senior colleagues strapped on golden parachutes, before he was given management chores. Back when Bell Labs had a sense of humor, too. Compared with the Googleplex, the halls in Murray Hill look drab and dreary, like your grandparents' high school. But they have seen bowling contests and juggling unicyclers such as the late Claude Shannon. A pioneer of digital communications, he dreamed up rocket-powered Frisbees and motorized pogo sticks for laughs. Pike, a Toronto native, shares some of those whimsy genes. "He definitely was fun-loving," says Dennis Ritchie, a Bell Labs computer scientist. At Bell Labs, Pike helped devise a computer networking system -- and named it for one of the cheesiest movies ever made, "Plan 9 from Outer Space." Another project, for cable TV boxes, was dubbed Inferno. Early in Pike's career someone suggested he needed a sexier résumé ... so he tacked on a 1980 Olympic silver medal in archery. Not bad, considering Canada and the United States boycotted those Moscow games. Pike wanted to medal in the biathlon, he deadpans, but figured no one would believe him. Pike enlisted magicians Penn & Teller to play an elaborate practical joke on his Nobel laureate boss at Bell Labs. On TV's "Late Night with David Letterman," Pike played a poker-faced mad scientist as Penn Jillette sawed Teller in half. "Bell Labs is full of smart people. Google is full of smart people. The country is full of smart people. Rob's just smarter," says Jillette, who met Pike through acquaintances at the MIT Media Lab. Jillette says Pike can explain quantum mechanics or Anna Nicole Smith with equal ease. "He didn't want to be a standard nerd, so he decided to learn about pop culture," Jillette says. "He reads 'Entertainment Weekly' with 'Nature' and the 'Economist.'" As Lucent's stock nose-dived a few years ago, the fun faded at Bell Labs and the future started looking shaky. "I just wanted out," Pike says. Another Bell Labs expatriate recommended Google. Pike's wife, artist Renee French, came by after his interview there. Who, she asked, was that young man her husband had been talking to? "Oh, he's the founder," Pike remembers answering. Pike still marvels at Google's massive computing resources. His job is improving the software behind the searches, for smoother "crawling," indexing and logging of 8 billion Web pages. He also hones software for "data mining" -- making sense of user patterns, so Google can deliver relevant ads to users of its mostly free services. "Rob's a very, very clever guy," Google CEO Schmidt says. Sometimes Pike misses the scientific diversity of Bell Labs, where he could rub elbows with astrophysicists and biochemists. But products trickled slowly, if ever, from the labs. They blast from Google at hyperspeed. "Here," Pike says, "you can have an idea on Monday and have it on the Web site by the end of the week." Kevin Coughlin covers technology. He may be reached at kcoughlin at starledger.com or (973) 392-1763. ROB PIKE Age: 48 Title: Google "Commander" What he does: Fine-tunes software for indexing 8 billion Web pages, and for mining data from Google user patterns. Education: University of Toronto, California Institute of Technology; a physicist by training Hobbies: Biking, photography Marital status: Married to artist Renee French (www.reneefrench.com) Best friend: Penn Jillette, of the Penn & Teller magic act Last job: Computer scientist and department head at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, where he helped develop operating systems called Plan 9 and Inferno. Left in 2002 after 23 years. On the privacy of Gmail, a Google service that automatically scans e-mails to deliver relevant ads: "Engineers cannot read your mail. No human can get near your mail." (c) 2005 The Star Ledger (c) 2005 NJ.com All Rights Reserved. From hbs.law at gmail.com Wed Jun 8 01:00:01 2005 From: hbs.law at gmail.com (Hasit seth) Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 15:30:01 -0400 Subject: [Commons-Law] Guatemalan inventor wins $8.9 million in a patent suit against Microsoft... Message-ID: <8b60429e05060712305825ee55@mail.gmail.com> Hi, In recent patent reform debate Microsoft and some bigger players in software are against enhancing patent protection. It may sound surprising but the reason is that Microsoft has been continuously sued by small inventors/companies (Eolas suit, Intertrust etc) where they have had to pay good deal of money to settle the patent suits. Here is another example of that type below resulting in a $8.9 million verdict in favor of a Guatemalan inventor against MS. Regards, Hasit ======================================= Microsoft ordered to pay $8.9M in patent case By Reuters http://news.com.com/Microsoft+ordered+to+pay+8.9M+in+patent+case/2100-1007_3-5735432.html Story last modified Tue Jun 07 09:27:00 PDT 2005 SANTA ANA, Calif.--A jury in U.S. federal court found that Microsoft infringed on a Guatemalan inventor's 1994 patent on technology linking the company's Access and Excel programs, and ordered the world's largest software maker to pay $8.9 million in damages. A jury in the U.S. District Court of Central California told Microsoft to pay the award to Carlos Armando Amado for software that uses a single spreadsheet to link Excel, a spreadsheet and calculation program, with the Access database application. The jury award takes into account Microsoft software sold between March 1997 and July 2003. U.S. District Judge David Carter will review the case to determine how much, if any, additional damages should be awarded for programs sold to date, plaintiff's attorney Vincent Belusko said. "Mr. Amado has pursued this for many years now, but while it's been a difficult effort, he's happy that he has some recognition," said Belusko. In his lawsuit, Amado said he filed for a patent in 1990 for the software linking the two Microsoft programs and that he unsuccessfully tried to sell it to Microsoft two years later, while the patent was pending. The jury awarded one out of a total of 10 counts filed and dismissed the other nine, which could have led to hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. "While today's verdict is disappointing, we are pleased the jury rejected Mr. Amado's large damages claims. We do not believe today's verdict will have any impact on our customers," said Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake. Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., began using his software without permission in various versions of Access, such as Access 95, 97, 2000 and 2002, according to Amado, who said he created the technology while he was a graduate student at Stanford University. From paivakil at yahoo.co.in Wed Jun 8 16:14:22 2005 From: paivakil at yahoo.co.in (Mahesh T. Pai) Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 16:14:22 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Masters of Remix - The Humpback Whales In-Reply-To: <1bc23463050529232954243fb3@mail.gmail.com> References: <1bc23463050529232954243fb3@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20050608104422.GA8327@home.wki> Thaths said on Mon, May 30, 2005 at 11:59:23AM +0530,: > "I sat next to Dr. Roger Payne at lunch. He talked to me about the > songs of the Humpback Wales that he has been recording for decades. He > is the authority of this field. He explained to me that Humpback > Whales sang beautiful songs. They copy from each other, remixing the > I suggested that he made some of these songs available online via > Creative Commons and he agreed that this would be a cool idea and > agreed to work on this. For now, you can find three of his CD's on > Amazon.com: Whales Alive, Deep Voices and Songs of the Humpback Whale. Who holds copyrights on this music? Will the RIAA pursue me if I put these CDs on a p2p network? -- Mahesh T. Pai <==> paivakil.port5.com ------------------------------------------- GNU/Linux <==> Free as in Freedom From thaths at gmail.com Thu Jun 9 10:22:24 2005 From: thaths at gmail.com (Thaths) Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2005 10:22:24 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Masters of Remix - The Humpback Whales In-Reply-To: <20050608104422.GA8327@home.wki> References: <1bc23463050529232954243fb3@mail.gmail.com> <20050608104422.GA8327@home.wki> Message-ID: <1bc2346305060821522b2d991f@mail.gmail.com> On 6/8/05, Mahesh T. Pai wrote: > Who holds copyrights on this music? > Will the RIAA pursue me if I put these CDs on a p2p network? I wish the RIAA will pursue the violaters - the Humpback whales - to the greatest depths of the ocean and drown. Thaths -- "Good things don't end in -eum; they end in -mania or -teria" -- Homer J. Simpson From pi at attacksyour.net Thu Jun 9 11:47:05 2005 From: pi at attacksyour.net (martin pichlmair) Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2005 08:17:05 +0200 Subject: [Commons-Law] imressum Message-ID: <69FBE34C-32E6-4F0F-B0C5-C01D08BF1052@attacksyour.net> hi commons, here in austria a recent change in the media rights (that will take effect on the 1st of july) tries to put an end to the anonymity of the internet. it cannot be foreseen yet if this law holds before the constitution court. the current mid-right government of our state is well known for issuing laws that get revoked a few months later. the recent adaptations of the media law state that every web site that goes beyond personal information (some sources say "that possibly affects the public opinion" but i did not find that in the text of the law) has to feature a so-called "impressum", an easily accessible statement of the name and venue of the "media owner" ("medieninhaber") and responsible persons of the media. while on one hand this is an assault on the specific character of free speech that we got used to online, it is on the other hand good to see that the internet is taken serious as a communication media. of course this law looks like specifically targeted at bloggers. to me it is especially not clear if this law applies to me blogging on e.g. an american/cuban/icelandic/... website. but what would be even more interesting to me is the international legal situation of anonymity in the internet. maybe someone wants to comment on that. lg martin ps: in another interesting case we had our finance minister stumble over private surveillance in form of mobile phone camera photos while cheating his fiancée. quite interesting how the hierarchies of a surveillance society mix up now and then. From shruti_vidyasagar at yahoo.co.in Fri Jun 10 13:06:19 2005 From: shruti_vidyasagar at yahoo.co.in (Shruti Vidyasagar) Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2005 08:36:19 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Commons-Law] U.S. House begins work on patent-system overhaul Message-ID: <20050610073619.3644.qmail@web8508.mail.in.yahoo.com> The link to the following story is -- http://in.news.yahoo.com/050610/137/5ywgy.html Friday June 10, 07:44 AM U.S. House begins work on patent-system overhaul By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers on Thursday began work on an overhaul of the patent system that would make patents easier to challenge and more difficult to use as a means to keep products off the market. Members of a House of Representatives intellectual-property subcommittee said their bill is the most comprehensive reform of the patent system in more than 50 years. "The bill will eliminate legal gamesmanship from the current system that rewards lawsuit abuses over creativity," said Texas Republican Rep. Lamar Smith, a bill sponsor and subcommittee chairman. The Patent and Trademark Office has struggled to keep up as applications have more than doubled since 1992 and grown in complexity as well. Overworked examiners have granted patents for peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches and methods for swinging on a swing, but technology companies say that a more serious problem stems from opportunists who amass patents of dubious quality and then sue companies with similar products. High-profile technology companies like Microsoft Corp., eBay Inc. and Intel Corp. have been targeted in such lawsuits. These "patent trolls" deter innovation by keeping products off the market and tied up in court, they argue. "There comes a time when over-rewarding patent holders can in fact retard technological development," said Daniel Ravicher, executive director of the Public Patent Foundation, a public-interest group. Smith's bill would make it more difficult for a judge to hold a product off the market when a patent challenge is filed. It would also allow anyone to ask the Patent and Trademark Office to review the validity of a patent for nine months after it is issued, or after they have received a notice of infringement from the patent holder. The bill also makes it easier for outsiders to submit evidence that a proposal is not unique enough to qualify for patent protection. Smith said his committee hopes to finish work on the bill by the end of the month, though many details remain up in the air. Though technology companies support the bill, others say it hurts individual inventors and universities that must forge business deals to bring their inventions to market. Smaller players will have a hard time protecting their inventions if they can't stop big businesses in court, said Carl Gulbrandsen, who oversees patents for the University of Wisconsin. "At the end of the day, you need to have the right to exclude the infringer," he said. Gary Griswold, a 3M Co. lawyer who spoke on behalf of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, said the bill would place additional burdens on a patent office that is already struggling to keep up. _______________________________________________________ Too much spam in your inbox? Yahoo! Mail gives you the best spam protection for FREE! http://in.mail.yahoo.com From andrea at digitalpolicy.it Sat Jun 11 19:04:48 2005 From: andrea at digitalpolicy.it (Andrea Glorioso) Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2005 15:34:48 +0200 Subject: [Commons-Law] imressum In-Reply-To: <69FBE34C-32E6-4F0F-B0C5-C01D08BF1052@attacksyour.net> (martin pichlmair's message of "Thu, 9 Jun 2005 08:17:05 +0200") References: <69FBE34C-32E6-4F0F-B0C5-C01D08BF1052@attacksyour.net> Message-ID: <87k6l1m2yv.fsf@hope.privatezone.b-only.com> Dear Martin, dear all, >>>>> "martin" == martin pichlmair writes: > but what would be even more interesting to me is the > international legal situation of anonymity in the > internet. maybe someone wants to comment on that. You might be interested in knowing that in Italy such a regulation is theoretically already in place, in that every "creative work" - and that encompasses basically every single web page, image, audio clip, whatever out there on the Internet, if is deemed protectable by copyright - has, according to several interpretations of the law, to be centrally registered by SIAE (the Italian rights collecting society, a state-sanctioned monopoly). This provision is contained in the so called "Urbani law" (by the name of the former Minister of Culture, now replaced by Mister Buttiglione, whom some of you might remember for being rejected by the European Parliament as JHA Commissioner, due to his violent homophobic positions): http://www.interlex.it/testi/l04_128.htm (in Italian) Cheers, -- Andrea Glorioso andrea at digitalpolicy.it +39 348 921 4379 -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 189 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050611/ecde1151/attachment.bin From prashant at nalsartech.org Sun Jun 12 12:10:22 2005 From: prashant at nalsartech.org (Prashant Iyengar) Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 12:10:22 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] KARNATAKA - FIRST CASE AGAINST CYBER CAFE BOOKED Message-ID: <20050612064121.441D228D8D3@mail.sarai.net> KARNATAKA - FIRST CASE AGAINST CYBER CAFE BOOKED Source: The Hindu The Cyber Crime police have booked the first case against a cyber cafe here for not following the notification making maintenance of the record of Internet users mandatory. The case was booked against Paradise Cyber Cafe in Basaveshwara Nagar on June 7. The Cyber Crime police have submitted a report to the Information Technology Secretary, K.N. Shankarlinge Gowda, for taking further action against the cyber cafe owner. The State Government, with an intention to prevent misuse of Internet by criminals, issued a notification in August 2004 making it mandatory for cyber cafes to maintain a record of Internet users. Failure to maintain the record, the notification said, would result in impounding their licences. View the Notification text at http://www.nalsartech.org/tikiwiki/tiki-index.php?page=CybCafeNotifn http://www.nalsartech.org /tikiwiki/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=5394 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050612/a08f772c/attachment.html From aarti at sarai.net Mon Jun 13 15:21:18 2005 From: aarti at sarai.net (Aarti) Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 15:21:18 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Sarai.txt 2.2 (text version) Message-ID: <42AD5716.7020307@sarai.net> Sarai txt 2.2 1 May - 1 July, 2005 Also see: http://broadsheet.var.cc/blog for previous issues. *TRANSMIT* A blank audio cassette, CD, notebook is a medium of as well as testimony to multiple everyday acts of creativity; a tool and an impetus to the flow of needs, desires and friendships; a gift, and also a commodity. That which does not contain anything can take any form. That which does not have a fixed location finds itself constituting the rhythms of different relationships. It flows, leaving trails in the landscape. These trails are lines of transmission. They could be the pre-configured circuits on which transmission rides. Or rewired circuits, as that which is transmitted seeks and finds new shapes, carriers, loops, in its path. And they are also eddies, of acts performed and journeys undertaken when that which is being transmitted spills over its destined routes. Depending on how lines of power are drawn, and where we position ourselves, we experience and register blockages, barriers, risks, threats, fears and small moments of epiphany. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Content of the text version: (Does not include the poster) SIDE 01 Anchor texts: - Production of Newness (commons-law post by Solomon Benjamin) - Forms of Technology Transfer (from public lecture at 'Contested Commons Trespassing Publics' conference, Sarai-CSDS and ALF, by Doron Ben Atar) SIDE 02 - PLAY: Even Before I have Stepped into The Station... (Meera Pillai, Sarai Independent Fellow) - SHUFFLE: How to Build a Transmitter - REPLAY: What it Is and What It's Called (from presentation at 'Contested Commons Trespassing Publics' conference, Sarai-CSDS and ALF, by Jane Gaines) - PAUSE: Long Distance Conversations (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) - REWIND: The Censor and the Interpreter (from presentation at 'History, Memory, Identity' seminar at Sarai-CSDS, by Luisa Passerini) - RECORD: The Map is Never Complete/Terracotta (Muthata Ramanathan, Sarai Independent Fellow, and Smriti Vohra) - RELEASE: MGM Vs Grokster: "My Way" to "Our Way" BACKPAGE: - Sarai[s] : Saraiki + frEeMuzik.net - Forthcoming: Medianagar 02 - Credits write to : broadsheet at sarai.net for print copies. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SIDE 01: Subject: Production of Newness Date: 19/03/2005 To: commons-law at sarai.net Reply to: sollybenj at yahoo.co.in Hi, I want to raise some questions and provocations about the 'production of newness' regarding settled understandings about modes of producing social goods, specifically in the context of the divide between research in the university setting and its application on the ground. My observations come from a close look at three of India's large industrial clusters - one in Delhi, which in 1995 manufactured about 30% of the cables (23 family types) and conductors (both copper and aluminium) in the Indian market; and textile clusters in the cities of Kancheepuram (of 'high grade' silk sarees) and Ramanagaram (silk reeling, with Asia’s largest silk cocoon market). Our studies in these areas have been to trace how these economies grew, paralleling macro-economic transformation, to demonstrate that very little, if not all, of the innovation came from non-university trained people, on the job. Not only is the range of innovations in all three places fascinating, but also, in the very short period of three months, a new fabric made out of silk waste found itself in the high-fashion markets of Milan, New York and Tel Aviv, via 'suitcase entrepreneurs'. I would like to point out that there was no intellectual property regime to 'sustain and foster innovation', and no technical or management training by NGOs or government agencies. There were a few cases where there was an attempt to promote 'new technologies' - one by an NGO, and the other by the Tata Energy Research Institute - on silk reeling. These were total disasters, and the overqualified technicians doing their stints in the field were the laughing stock of the scruffy locals, who commented that the salaries would be better utilised in buying more cocoons! As for 'basic research', one has only to visit the computers supplied by Japan Aid laid out in thick plastic sheets in a 'demonstration' Tata silk farm near Bangalore. I suspect that as part of a Nehruvian development argument, the issue of basic research in universities, as contrasted with 'slummy'/applied research innovation, reflects a politics of the ability to corner resources. Earlier, it was the select few in the IITs (Indian Institute of Technology); and now it's the multinationals, via complex contractual regulations and the international intellectual property rights asserted in their newfound collaborations. I'll take the chance to mention here a very interesting document - the 1912 Mysore Economic Conference by Sir Vishwaria, where the issue was technological innovation in silk production. The verbatim accounts of the discussions show that the big debate was whether to have research exclusively in laboratories, or instead for scientists to sleep out on the farms, and observe how farmers reared cocoons and made yarn. And in this way, test out their 'innovations' in the field, and move away from a framework of 'technology transfer' to a framework of 'technology, basic and applied'. For those interested, we'll be happy to share this, perhaps in a more reflective piece. But for now, I strongly urge a look at accounts of historical and social processes like the 1912 conference! History may help us ask necessary questions about our assumptions and axioms. Cheers, Solly Excerpted and adapted from a posting by Solomon Benjamin on the commons-law list. http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/2005-March/002324.html *** - Forms of Technology Transfer During the 18th and 19th centuries, there were three forms of technology transfer between the US and Europe. One was the knowledge itself, whichever way it came. It could come as something written or described, but this was problematic because descriptions lacked standard measurements. For example, when people registered for patents in the English Patent Office, they were required to describe the machine, but they always kept their accounts vague because they feared that if the descriptions were too detailed, the machine would be copied. Another form of transfer was the machines themselves. But these were not of great use unless you knew how to operate them. Which brings me to the central agent, the people themselves, the carriers of skill and technological know-how, who were crucial to this process. The migration of artisans and the dissemination of technical skills took place in spite of a concerted effort on the part of the British government to keep its trade secrets at home. As the imperial conflict between the patriots and the metropolis took shape in the mid-1770s, the British Parliament ruled that all people leaving for North America from the British Isles and Ireland, with the intent to settle, were required to pay £50 per head. After the United States won its independence from Britain, the act of exporting equipment for various industries, from textiles, leather, paper and metals to glass and clock-making, was prohibited. The Utopian Socialist thinker Robert Owen, recalling his earlier days in the English textile industry, reported that in the 1780s, “Cotton mills were closed against all strangers. No one was admitted. They were kept with great jealousy against all intruders, with their doors being always locked.” A tactic that can still evoke smiles was that of employing Welsh speakers in certain mills. These people were ‘safe’; they could not go anywhere or divulge anything, as no one understood their language. The American ‘founders’ knew of these restrictions. But they also believed that for the United States to survive politically and economically, it had to close the technology gap. Framers of the US Constitution unanimously approved Article 1, Section 8, which instructed the government to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing, for a limited time, for authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. This was a significant break from the English system of intellectual property, which was itself founded on the promotion of piracy. In the 14th century, the English monarchy lured European artisans to England by offering them a production monopoly. The English law of patents granted what are known as ‘patents of importation’ to introducers. ‘Inventors’ and ‘introducers’ are different categories; yet in the English system, they are not distinct. The first United States Patent Act broke with the European tradition of patents of importation. It restricted patents exclusively to original inventors, and established the principle that prior use anywhere in the world constituted grounds for invalidating a patent. In theory, the US pioneered a new standard of intellectual property rights that set the highest possible standards for patent protection, that of worldwide originality and novelty. But the intellectual property laws Congress enacted in the first fifty years of its existence were a smokescreen for a very different reality. The statutory requirement of worldwide originality and novelty did not hinder widespread, and officially sanctioned, technology piracy. William Thornton, who administered the American Patent Office for an extended period, did not insist on the oath of worldwide novelty. It is indeed entirely possible that most of the patent applications received were for devices that were already in use, since acquiring a patent required little more than the successful completion of paperwork. Moreover, the Patent Act of 1793 explicitly prohibited foreigners from obtaining patents in the US for inventions that had been put to work elsewhere in the world. This meant that while US citizens could petition for introducers patents in European nations, European inventors could not protect their intellectual property in America. What seems to be emerging, then, is a new understanding of the proper arena for technology piracy. The young republic embraced a Janus-faced approach. In theory, it pioneered a new standard of intellectual property with the strictest possible requirements. A self-respecting government, eager to join the international community, could not flaunt its violation of the laws of other nations. But in practice, the state encouraged widespread piracy and industrial espionage. In this process of theoretical distancing from/pragmatic embracing of piracy, the US had come full circle. The fledgling republic had become the primary technology exporter in the world. The years of piracy upon which the current stature was founded were, however, erased from the American national memory. The intellectual debt owed to imported technology did not turn the US into a champion of the free exchange of knowledge. As the diffusion of technology began to flow eastward of the Atlantic, America emerged as the world’s foremost advocate of extending intellectual property rights to the international sphere. Excerpted and adapted from “US Path to Wealth and Power: Intellectual Piracy and the Making of America”, a public lecture by Doron Ben- Atar at the ‘Contested Commons, Trespassing Publics’ conference organised by Sarai-CSDS and the Alternative Law Forum (6-8 January 2005, New Delhi). The full text of the lecture can be accessed at: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2005-April/005344.html An audio file of the lecture is available for free download at: http://www.sarai.net/events/ip_conf/doron.mp3 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SIDE 02 PLAY - Even Before I Have Stepped into the Station... Spotting us from the corner of their eyes, the boys leap up and flee. Joseph calls out, “Hey, it’s us! Where are you off to?” They pause, two or three with a leg over the railings. Their faces split in grins, they wait for us to catch up with them. “Did you think we were the police?” asks Joseph, his cheerful voice booming. “We were playing bomma,” they explain. A simple game played by younger boys at Vijaywada railway station: tossing a coin, calling out heads or tails, keeping the coin if you call correctly. The keepers of law mistake this for gambling, and usually object. Curious passersby slow down, stop to watch us talk to the children. There are seven boys aged 8-12 in this group, hanging out at the end of the handicapped-accessible ramp beside the broad steps of the station’s side entrance. Vijaywada is the largest junction on the South Central Railway. It services 135 trains and about 30,000 passengers daily. On an average, 23 children arrive here each day, having left their homes and families. Joseph and Basha, who trawl the railway platforms daily on behalf of a local NGO working with children in need of care and protection, are familiar figures to these particular boys. The fact that I am accompanying Joseph and Basha makes me ‘safe’, in the group’s perception. “Does anyone speak Hindi? She can speak Hindi,” Joseph says. In my minimal Telugu, and with hand gestures, I explain, “Telugu raadu. I can’t maatlaadu, but if you speak to me, artham cheysukontaanu.” All seven are amused at my incompetence, but generous about my effort. Three start talking to me in Hindi, and a fourth, we discover, speaks Tamil, so he and I have that language in common. Most important is their question “Tumhara gaon kahaan (Where is your village)?” One of them has travelled to Bangalore, and asks me where the street children’s shelters are. “I looked for them, but I couldn’t find them.” I give him a quick tip on how to locate the shelters there. A man comes by with a flask and tiny plastic “glasses” that can hold about two tablespoons of liquid. Within a moment, we are all sipping tea. The vendor is in a chatty mood. “I tell them they should also sell tea...I can help one or two. They can sell tea and make Rs. 50-100 a day. But they don’t listen.” The boys ignore him. “Do you hang out here often?” I ask. They say yes, nod casually. “And no one disturbs you?” “No...Or if they come, we go there. Or there.” They point to the roof abutting the ramp, to the roof of the wide porch, to the space under the metal stairs leading from a footbridge to the road outside the railway station. “When we want to sleep, we go under those stairs. Or up there, when it is hot. We climb up that.” They point at a cast iron drainpipe along the side of the building. “Is that difficult?” They laugh. One boy leaps onto the railings. In a couple of seconds, he has shimmied up to the roof and back. “We can climb up that neem tree to the porch. Or use that pipe over there...or those pipes.” I’ve not even entered yet, and already I’ve seen three non-standard living spaces that the Vijaywada railway station provides to its young residents. Spaces that I have never noticed there before. This was my second lesson in recent times. Earlier, three young men at the station had drawn freehand maps to indicate spaces they thought were ‘safe’ and ‘dangerous’ for children who live there. In their sketch, a well-lit, modern food court and the railway reservation counter were marked as dangerous, and the roofs of footbridges and stairways connecting different platforms were marked as the safest - for rest, for play, for living. How the youngsters inhabiting the station perceived its spaces in terms of ‘security’ and ‘threat’ was in complete contradiction to how those same spaces were perceived by me, a middle-aged, middle-class woman. Meera Pillai mpillai65 at yahoo.com Sarai Independent Fellow, 2004-05. Her research is titled “Food Courts and Footbridges: Conceptualising Space in Vijaywada Railway Station”. Compiled from two postings, which can be accessed at: https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2005-January/004879.html https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2005-May/005689.html *** SHUFFLE Materials Required ØA 1-megahertz crystal oscillator ØAn audio transformer ØA generic printed circuit board ØA phone plug ØA 9-volt battery clip ØA 9-volt battery ØA set of alligator jumpers ØSome insulated wire for an antenna How to Build a Transmitter 1] Flatten out the two metal tabs on the bottom of the transformer and glue them to the circuit board. 2] Insert and firmly secure the leads of the oscillator into the circuit board, placing it far to the right. Solder. 3] Insert the stripped end of the red wire of the transformer into a hole in the printed circuit board. Insert the red wire from the battery clip into another hole that is connected by copper foil to the first hole. Solder. 4] Insert the white transformer wire into a hole whose copper foil is connected to the upper left pin of the oscillator. Solder. 5] Cut one of the clip leads in half and strip the insulation from the last half-inch of each piece. 6] Insert the black wire of the battery clip into a hole whose copper foil connects to the lower right pin of the oscillator. Do the same with the stripped end of one of the alligator clip leads. Solder the two wires to the copper foil. The alligator clip will be the “ground” connection. 7] Insert the stripped end of the other alligator clip into a hole that is connected to the upper right pin of the oscillator. Solder to the copper foil. This is the antenna connector. 8] Open the phone plug, insert the blue and green wires of the transformer into the plastic handle. Put each of the transformer wires into holes in the plug. Solder. Depending on the antenna, the transmitter can send voice and music across the room, or across the street. To get a good range, clip the ground wire to a good ground, such as a cold water pipe, and clip the antenna to a long wire. Choose your range. Transmit. http://www.scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/radio/am_transmitter.html *** REPLAY - What It Is, and What It’s Called How many times can a joke be told if a joke be told more than once? How many ways can a joke be told if a joke be told more than once? What would a jester do if told that a joke dies with its first telling? Would a joke remain the same joke if we only changed the spelling? In 1895, the Lumière brothers in France made a film called L'Arroseur Arrosé, or The Waterer Watered. The plot was apparently simple, comic, almost slapstick. A gardener is holding a hose. A boy steps on the hose, choking off the flow of water. The gardener peers down the hose. The boy lifts his foot from the hose. The gardener is squirted. Early films were in high demand; the period between 1895 and 1899 was a sort of Wild West of opportunity to reproduce at random and at large. Often the original negatives ran out, and the prints could only be shown about 60 times; by then they were reduced to shreds. In such instances, as with The Waterer Watered, the only option was to re-shoot, i.e., to ‘re-tell’ the joke. So, like all jokes which grow and transform in the telling, this rudimentary plot changed with each version. Stylistic components such as depth of field were introduced; so were dramatic elements. The boy is spanked; the ‘watered’ gardener ‘waters’ the boy in turn; the boy is played by a girl... From 1896 to 1903 occurs what I call the moment of the too-too-many copies of The Waterer Watered. Through my research on this film’s multiple variants, we know that a film called The Gardener (Le Jardinier, 1895, Lumière Company) was shown at the Salon Indien in Paris. The film later becomes The Waterer Watered. This is further complicated, in that the Lumières made the same film, The Waterer Watered, more than once. Making and Re-making: Most textbooks record one version of The Waterer Watered, and possibly two. Only two textbooks from the 1930s refer to ten versions. I have actually counted up to sixteen versions. As we shall see, these versions were not just by the Lumières, the ‘original’ makers. In 1896, Méliès made his own version. Edison made an 1896 American version, Bad Woman, Bad Boy, in which both roles are played by women; this film is not extant. The British made The Bad Boy and the Garden Hose (Blackton and Smith), and The Gardener with Hose or The Mischievous Boy (W.H. Smith). Then we have two more French examples, one of them made by the pioneer woman producer/director Alice Guy-Blaché. Most interesting to me is the mystery print, The Gardener and the Bad Boy, which was shown in New York in 1896, but had no mention of any exhibitor or distributor. The date of this ‘extra-legal’ screening does not correspond with the date that the Lumière company actually showed the first work in New York. Prints and Titles: The other question of the too-too-many copies, besides the number of copies, is also what you call the copies. Do the titles give us an indication of the prints? Because all we have to go on, in our attempt to do this kind of motion picture history, this history of copyright, are titles and prints in archives all over the world which have probably been misnamed. In addition to the multiple translations of the French L’Arroseur Arrosé as Waterer and Watered and The Waterer Watered, you will also see The Practical Joke and the Gardener, Watering the Gardener, The Sprinkler Sprinkled, and Teasing the Gardener. With all of these variations, where is the correspondence, if any, between the titles and the prints? Some argue that The Waterer Watered is the first comedy, some argue that it’s the first fiction film. I have to tell you that I am not a believer in ‘firsts’. I am also on the warpath against ‘origins’. And what I love about this particular project is that it is impossible to really determine where the ‘first’ occurs, when the ‘first’ occurs, or if there is a ‘first’... Excerpted and adapted from the presentation “Early Cinema, Heyday of Copying” by Jane Gaines, at the ‘Contested Commons, Trespassing Publics’ conference organised by Sarai-CSDS and the Alternative Law Forum (6-8 January 2005, New Delhi). An audio file of the presentation can be accessed at: http://www.sarai.net/events/ip_conf/day02_audio/stream-070105-afterlunch.mp3 *** PAUSE - Long Distance Conversations I am a prisoner of phone booths. STD/ISD/PCO/FAX/Xerox By Japanese Machine booths. I am enthralled by their darkened glass panes, stencilled signage and plastic flowers, the late hours they keep, and the stories that gather on their wallpapers. Like an idiot hungry for tales of travellers who idled in the sarais of the Delhi sultanate, I waste my time in the phone booths of ‘90s New Delhi. Even when I have nothing to say and no one to call. I go there to eavesdrop on the world, to whisper in my head the magic of distant place names: Adas, Addagadde, Galsi, Gambhoi, Kanjirapuzha, Kalna, Zira, Zineboto. Or, I search further in the book of codes for cities with enchantments: Rosario, Uppsala, Valparaiso, Zauqa, Aqaba...and Sandnes...and Los Angeles. ...Phone booths in the city centre, close to railway stations and cheap hotels, are home to a floating population of tourists and travellers in various stages of fatigue and enthusiasm. They unbuckle their voluminous rucksacks, unzip their hip pouches to take out scraps of paper with phone numbers in Belgium or Germany, while imagining the prospects of return and mapping their future itineraries. Will it be Ladakh before Goa, or Dharamsala before Varanasi? These are the roving envoys of the lonely planet, invariably overcharged by smooth phone booth owners who hide their racism behind the complicated arithmetic of time and money conversions. ...A refugee Afghan doctor and his wife come to ring up Kabul. I asked them once if they still have friends or relatives there. “No,” they said, “everyone is dead, or in exile. We call only to see if the house we left behind is still standing. When the phone rings, it means that the house has not been shelled.” ...Three Malayali nurses, exceptionally graceful, regularly call up family in their home town. After the change has been tendered, the boss of our phone booth, who lets the nurses move to the head of the queue (no one seems to mind), asks them searching questions about the Christian faith. Is the Holy Ghost a ghost? Was Jesus reborn after his death? Did the Virgin Mary have a normal delivery? Do Christians have caste? The nurses painstakingly answer these questions in halting Hindi, promise to try and find out from their priest. ...The night’s calls are nearly over, at 12.40 am. Along with me, there’s a backpacker still trying to get through to Barcelona, and the boss, staring at cable TV. The phone rings, but the boss and the backpacker have fallen asleep, and for the next twenty-five minutes or so, the shiny-shoed salesman who rushes in makes long-distance love to a married woman in Bangalore. Sometimes he breaks off from Kannada and begins talking about her long hair in English. He jokes about the sleeping husband, asks for news of the children, promises to see her soon. ...The boss counts the day’s takings and begins to roll down the shutter. I offer to drive the backpacker down to the all-night STD booth outside the Eastern Court buildings on Janpath. We drive in silence; we have things to say to the people we need to call, not to each other. Then my companion decides to tell me that his friend is dead and cold in a hospital morgue, that he is catching the next flight back in the morning with her body. When we get to the booth, he lets me wake the operator and get the cards with which to work the phones. He shuts the door tight behind him when he calls, and I cannot hear his voice. When he is done, he thanks me and leaves before I can ask him if I can take him to his hotel, or to the hospital. ...How did he say what he had to tell his friend’s family? “Flavia and I are coming home tomorrow, but she is not alive”, or “Flavia died this morning at 6.45 in her sleep”, or just, “Flavia is dead.” Sometimes I think of all the telephone conversations that criss-cross the earth...Numbers don’t match, there is static interference, satellite links fail, people don’t know what to say, or are unable to say what they mean. Perhaps all that is unsaid collects each night and hovers above us like an unknown layer in the atmosphere, until it is blown away on the rare days when people find it possible to really speak to each other. Shuddhabrata Sengupta shuddha at sarai.net Excerpted from an essay first published in The India Magazine, August-September 1996; republished in Elsewhere, ed. Kai Friese, Penguin India, New Delhi, 2000. For full text see: http://www.sarai.net/compositions/texts/works/longdistance.htm *** REWIND - The Censor and the Interpreter For an oral historian, the first major source is the encounter between two subjectivities, between the interviewee and the interviewer. But when I say two subjectivities, I mean not only the agency, the capacity to act. I mean also the world of ideas, imagination, thought, emotion, which inhabits the subject. And the source here is to be understood in the literal sense like the water which vivifies. The source is the meeting between human beings, and therefore the recognition between them, how they relate to each other and present each other, the understanding between them, and finally the actual emotion of meeting. So this is the first source of oral history: the emotion of the meeting. Of course, there are other similar sources. I mean, there is a similar source in history also that does not use the oral at all, and it is called empathy. It is the empathy of the biographer; it is the empathy with the document. So this encounter is there, the encounter of feelings. Why do I insist on the emotion? Not only because I think that it is an under-recognised topic and attitude in history, but also because I am thinking of Freud’s reference to the question of emotion when he says that the erotic drive is actually extremely flexible. It is much more flexible than the drive to eat, because you cannot eat just anything but you can become attached to anything. You can love anything. This flexibility of sentiment is the first source of oral history. Secondly, this encounter between two subjectivities is expressed in words, and therefore it gives rise to an inter-subjectivity of dialogue. It is this inter-subjectivity that is taped on the tape recorder. This ‘tape’ is a very strong censorship. It is the censorship of everything that is not a word. The tape recorder does not include the image, does not include the body. (It does, however, include laughter, chuckles, cries...). But the very censorship it operates through also forms the tools through which we work. The taped interview is the source I always send my students back to. They cannot go back to the original situation but they can go back to the taped interview. The transcript, which is the third source, is only a shortcut: a shortcut for analysis. But the transcript is already the translation of the oral into the written. So it has undergone a huge transformation. And then there is a fourth transformation, which is interpretation. Here one uses all sorts of disciplinary tools, from folklore, from anthropology, from media studies, from economics, and so on. Then there is the question of temporalities. I would say that in the oral interview there are three temporalities at least. One is the time in which one does the interview – the present. Another is the time period of the narration. A narration, for instance, can refer to Fascism in the 1930s, between the two world wars. And the third is the temporality of the narration itself. The narration can very well have centuries-long roots. It can have roots in other traditions of narration – a tradition of narration that exists since a very long time or that comes from different spheres, for instance TV shows, and so on. Operating through these three temporalities, the inter-subjectivity of the encounter produces something that can constitute very different collections. It can constitute an oral archive, it can become the basis of a community project or it can undergo literary treatment, or it can become a radio programme, or it can become a source for history. These are ways in which oral material becomes a source...In order to be transformed into a source, oral material has to undergo specific procedures. Excerpted and adapted from a talk by Luisa Passerini at the ‘History, Memory, Identity’ workshop organised by Sarai-CSDS (14-16 January 2005). *** RECORD - The Map Is Never Complete This project is an attempt to extend critical understandings of the use of spatial technologies (remote sensing and GIS) that typically focus on institutional and instrumental aspects. My research includes documenting my observations of the actual processes of technological practice. I argue that we should pay attention to the spaces and actors involved in the technical stages of knowledge production, and maintain the linkages from the phenomenon to be represented (e.g., the agrarian landscape) to the objects of representation (e.g., a land use map) and the manner in which these are utilised. During my ongoing interactions with the technical staff of the NGO that I have been associated with for this work, I have noticed a specific culture of learning/practice. I accompanied a soil scientist on a soil mapping field trip. To familiarise me with his approach to soil classification and mapping, he handed me a soils manual and asked me to read it on the day before our field visit. It contained information about soil characteristics such as texture, depth, and colour – specifically, definitions of different classes of texture, depth, etc. Later he gave me a quick overview of his field methods. These methods were based on the interaction between soil characteristics, and this information was not contained in the manual. I asked him about this as we drove to the site the next morning. He replied that while writing the manual, he had made a deliberate choice to not include the information about the interactions. He also refused to tell me about it in the jeep. He described this as a question of style that he had developed over the years. In his opinion, if he ‘told’ me about it, broke it down into steps, it would not help me in the least. I would not develop my own style or understanding, and would instead practice a simplistic method of soil mapping. We spent nearly two days traversing the fields, classifying soils and mapping their distributions. During this, he shared many insights. However none were prescriptive; instead, they were (some rather slippery) building blocks. This seemed to me a specific epistemology and approach to learning. There is no absolute soil class or soil map for a region. Much is based on interpretation and making tough, but informed, choices on the ground. In order to impart this kind of knowledge, my ‘teacher’ chose to provide me with the basics textually, and then chose to show the way differently through ‘practice’. I had to learn to make these choices myself as I stood on a plot of land and looked around – how to situate myself with respect to the local topography, interpret the local geology, triangulate it with standing crops (if any) in the area, the slope of the land, the colour of the soil. The map is never complete, stage by stage, inch by inch – a choice you make down the line might still influence a choice you had just made. Muthatha Ramanathan muthatha at u.washington.edu Sarai Independent Fellow, 2004-05. Her research is titled “Tracing Spatial Technology in the Rural Development Landscape of South India”. Her posting can be accessed at: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2005-April/005376.html +++++++ Terracotta, known locally as peeli mitti (yellow earth), is of a recalcitrant grain, its rough beauty fretted with stones, roots, twigs, sharp edges of buried fragments, gritty seams of resistance willing their own annihilation. To prepare this clay for use, soak it in a bucket overnight. Pour off the water that collects on the surface of the sediment. Vigorously sieve the dense slurry through a close-latticed mesh. Free of detritus, liquid silk falls through, so fine that it coats the skin without nudging the alignment of a single hair. Allow this yield to dry to the preferred consistency, turning it over occasionally to make sure it is evenly exposed. Technically speaking, if the slurry is kept adequately moist and left to “sour” in the bucket for an extended period, the clay later proves stronger, as well smoother and more supple, to the potter’s grip. smriti at sarai.net *** RELEASE - MGM vs. Grokster: “My Way” to “Our” Way In October 2001, Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer and twenty-eight of the world’s largest entertainment companies took the makers and distributors of the Grokster, Morpheus and Kazaa softwares to court, alleging secondary copyright violation. They held that the distributors of the software were directly responsible for the infringing activities of users of the system. MGM vs. Grokster came up for hearing before a bench of the US Supreme Court on 29 March 2005. Arguments are currently in progress, and a decision is expected by the end of June this year. Grokster, like other P2P softwares such as Kazaa, Limewire and BitTorrent, enables users connected to a network, such as the Internet, to share files with each other. These could be music files, video files and even digitised books. The industry has traditionally been suspicious of technologies that enable the circulation of cultural material in ways and forms that cannot be controlled by the owners of the copyright on that material. An anxiety ratcheted up by the immense transformative possibilities opened up by new media and digital technology tools on the one hand, and a parallel tightening of an international intellectual property regime on the other. The Grokster case is not the first instance of such a suit. In 1999, AGM music filed a similar suit against the makers of Napster, a similar file-sharing software. At the juridical level, the Grokster case is a question of technological innovation and its limits, when situated within a regime that places an equally high value on the protection of the intellectual property of other innovators, such as artists, authors, musicians, etc., which technologies like Grokster are seen to threaten, violate and undermine. A precedent had been set in 1984 with Sony Corporation of America vs. Universal City Studios, or the Betamax case. The US Supreme Court ruled that a company was not liable for creating a technology that some customers may use for copyright infringing purposes, so long as the technology lends itself to substantial, commercially viable non-infringing uses. However a consideration of the Grokster case would have to take into account the fact that this is as much about the ‘case’ and all that surrounds it as a cluster of transmissible signals, as it is about the bare facts of the case itself. The many avatars of Grokster – a posting on a list, an announcement on a website, a transcript in an archive, an entry in a blog, perhaps a conversation between a judge and his teenage grandson – gesture to the cumulative effects of what happens when something enters a network capable of allowing the simultaneous exchange of information between an ever-expanding constituency of interested parties. Ideas multiply and go places. And so does the simple idea of file sharing. From a court case to a web log to a posting to the words in the paper that you hold in your hand to the next set of hands that hold the paper, and so on. A lawsuit against a technology of transmission itself becomes the object of transmission along the byways of the Net. Information travels across the neurons of the Net sparking off connections, sometimes at random. A Washington lawyer who attended the oral submission before the Supreme Court describes this on his blog, an artist who uses file-sharing software to upload and share his music with peers features news of the case on his site, a website begins a countdown of all the technologies that would be retrospectively prohibited if the Court rules against the technology, a law school decides to upload the oral transcripts in pdf format on its portal. A group of artists get together and file amicus curiae (friends of the court) briefs in favour of Grokster, just as other artists signed by the recording labels file briefs against it. A critical mass gathers around the case, so that regardless of whether the final judgment is in its favour or not, it (and along with it, the idea of file sharing) has nonetheless entered the accretive memory of the network. The circulation of things is crucially about the patterns of usage that emerge around them. Circulation builds cultures and contexts of sociality, in which things are gifted, shared, transformed, repurposed and remixed. In a network, Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” is open to becoming “his way” and “her way”. Sometimes maybe even “our way”. Then, these ‘ways’ enter the everydayness of discourse and practice and it becomes difficult to create barriers to block them. For more information on this case see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MGM_Studios_v._Grokster and http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/MGM_v_Grokster/ To download a full text version in pdf format of the oral submission before the United States Supreme Court, see: http://p2p.weblogsinc.com/entry/1234000167039288/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BACKPAGE: - Story: Saraiki SARAI[S]: In medieval South Asia, sarais (inns) were constructed at strategic distances all along intersecting trade routes, providing free food and lodging for travellers, and grain and fodder for their weary horses, camels and pack animals. Sarais were junctions where those on the road -– merchants, traders, artisans, seekers of fortune, scholars, pilgrims, vagrants, beggars, priests – could find shelter, sustenance and companionship. Magicians, dancers and musicians lived around the sarais and performed for its floating clientele. Sarais functioned as crucial hubs in an extensive communication network that used horse mail and itinerant human couriers to cover huge distances. Messages passed along the length and breadth of the South Asian subcontinent, from Kandahar and beyond in the far north-west, bordering Afghanistan and the Baluchistan deserts in the west, to the Irrawaddy basin in Burma in the east, and from the Tibetan plateau in the far north to the far southern tip of the Deccan peninsula. Even today, the map of Delhi is inscribed with at least twelve locations that include the word sarai. A transit point suspended between departure and arrival, the sarai was a site for the exchange of news, stories, gossip, trade secrets and useful information. Many tongues carrying their own subtle inflections and unique cadences jostled for space here. From this eloquent din emerged a strange, polyglot creation, an unruly mix of Persian, Khari Boli, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto and Turkish. It was called Saraiki: the language of the sarai. ** frEeMuzik.net Welcome to frEeMuzik (http://www.freemuzik.net/). This is a digital intervention, a collective where musicians can interact and create recordings without commercial pressures. It aims to foster an open cultural space for the expression and documentation of musical forms that are ignored/neglected in the market, and are threatening to disappear. All music on the site can be freely downloaded. Artistes are invited to improvise, experiment and freely contribute to frEeMuzik.net, which will focus on genres across the musical spectrum, including Indian and Western classical/folk, Latin, Indigenous and electronic. With its alternative, non-profit approach, and without soliciting funds/promotion from music companies or corporate sponsors, frEeMuzik.net intends to establish a record label and recording studio, and build an audio library by collecting old and rare records as well as new CDs. We will also be working with Internet radio towards broadcasting frEeMuzik.net in the public domain. We welcome participation from photographers, musicians, sound recordists, mixing/mastering experts, studio professionals, software coders and people interested in contributing to the frEeMuzik.net resource base in any way. Contact ish at sarai.net http://users.sarai.net/ish/idea.htm FORTHCOMING: Medianagar 02 Medianagar is the annual Hindi publication of the Publics and Practices in the History of the Present project, in Sarai. Medianagar 02 explores the dynamic and fluid networks of the production, distribution and circulation of diverse media forms. It attempts a creative exploration of the forms, trends and representations of media in the contemporary city. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [END OF BROADSHEET] CREDITS Editorial Collective: Aarti Sethi Iram Ghufran Shveta Sarda Smriti Vohra Editorial Co-ordinator Monica Narula Design (print version): Mrityunjay Chatterjee Photographs: Monica Narula Write to broadsheet at sarai.net From shruti_vidyasagar at yahoo.co.in Mon Jun 13 23:56:50 2005 From: shruti_vidyasagar at yahoo.co.in (Shruti Vidyasagar) Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 19:26:50 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Commons-Law] US IP law changes attract worldwide interest Message-ID: <20050613182651.88281.qmail@web8504.mail.in.yahoo.com> http://www.legalweekglobal.net/ViewItem.asp?id=24296 Legal Week Reports 13 June 2005 USA US IP law changes attract worldwide interest - US patent reform could aid patent law harmonisation The recent distribution of a ‘Committee Print’ outlining proposed reforms in US patent law and subsequent hearings both in the House and the Senate have been noted with great interest by other countries. Far from being a matter of purely domestic interest, the US patent reform is being closely watched in Europe and Asia. This is because the centerpiece of that effort — changing the US system from first-to-invent to first-inventor-to-file — suggests that the Congress is serious about adopting this change that would facilitate patent law harmonisation. Industry has long sought harmonisation of certain aspects of international patent law to simplify filing for patent protection and to make possible ‘work sharing’ among leading patent offices — the ability of offices to rely on the search of patent applications conducted by other offices. Discussions on substantive patent law reform in the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) have been ongoing since the conclusion of a patent formalities harmonisation treaty in 2000. These talks have been stalled, however, by certain developing countries insisting on the addition of a number of issues reflecting their reaction to the protection norms mandated in the TRIPs agreement. IP-focused non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have argued that such politically motivated issues should not be allowed to impede progress on the small core of key criteria on patentability which are needed to facilitate meaningful work sharing. Frustrated by the lack of progress in WIPO on patent law harmonisation, the Trilateral Patent Offices (the European Patent Office, Japan Patent Office and United States Patent and Trademark Office) agreed with the NGOs that the negotiations be limited to four items: prior art; grace period; novelty; and inventive step. A proposal by the Trilateral in 2004 to limit the discussions in WIPO to these topics was essentially blocked by Brazil, Argentina and other like-minded countries. The USPTO took the initiative in February to convene a meeting of some 20 developed countries to seek agreement to jointly pursue these topics in parallel with the WIPO process in the hope of advancing progress. A Consultative Meeting convened by the Director General of the WIPO in Casablanca, later in February, agreed that these items should be taken up in the next meeting of WIPO’s Standing Committee on Patents scheduled for June. The reason why countries interested in seeing the WIPO harmonisation talks succeed are also interested in the US patent reform activity is that the four items proposed for the focus of the current talks are based on a first-to-file system. Specifically, the international grace period proposal is drafted to work in a first-to-file system, not a first-to-invent system. Given the speculation about whether the US is serious about moving to a first-to-file system ever since the US walked away from a Diplomatic Conference in 1991, the activity in the Congress is a welcome sign. That having been said, the prospects for US domestic patent reform remain somewhat cloudy. This is not because of the proposal to change to a first-inventor-to-file system, but rather because of other proposals contained in the Committee Print. The Committee Print contains proposals from several sources. Most of the proposals came from the legislative agenda of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), which prepared its agenda as a comprehensive response to the patent reform studies generated by the National Academy of Sciences and the Federal Trade Commission. The AIPLA attempted to present a balanced approach, taking into consideration the NAS and FTC recommendations as well as the interests of inventors, industry and the public. Seeing an historic opportunity, the AIPLA attempted to present a legislative package designed to obtain the kind of consensus that would facilitate passage into law. Others had different goals. The Committee Print also contained proposals from the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a group of large computer software and hardware companies, including Microsoft. The BSA also sensed an historic opportunity, an opportunity to obtain an advantage for its members in its fight against what they call ‘patent trolls’, patent holding companies that do not participate in the software market except to sue software makers. The BSA proposals — all cutting back on patent owner’s rights, include one that would limit injunctive relief based in part on whether the patent owner ‘makes use’ of the patented invention, effectively a working requirement and compulsory licence provision. This provision and other BSA provisions would harm more than the targeted patent holding companies such as independent inventors, universities, small businesses and others. Although a handful of US industry and bar groups have attempted to work with the BSA to find mutually acceptable alternatives to address the concerns expressed by the BSA so that patent reform can move ahead, these efforts have not found any receptivity on the crucial issues. A bill is expected to be introduced later this month, but what will be included in such a bill is still not set. Because the success of any such bill depends on its attracting broad support, industry and bar groups are lobbying hard for their proposals. As the legislative process moves ahead, the success of patent reform will depend on whether compromises can be found to address the concerns that have been raised that will also keep the fundamentals of the patent system intact. If these efforts to develop compromises bear fruit and the proposal to adopt a first-inventor-to-file system remains intact, US patent reform legislation will remove an important obstacle to progress on patent law harmonisation. Bill Rooklidge is a partner at Howrey. --------------------------------- Too much spam in your inbox? Yahoo! Mail gives you the best spam protection for FREE! http://in.mail.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050613/6b224d6f/attachment.html From prabhuram at gmail.com Tue Jun 14 14:35:09 2005 From: prabhuram at gmail.com (prabhu ram) Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 11:05:09 +0200 Subject: [Commons-Law] A Cautionary Tale Message-ID: <68752c9f050614020569f9cd3c@mail.gmail.com> >TCS A Cautionary Tale Sally Satel GENEVA -- What do the national costumes of Yunan Province in China and the microbes of Panamanian rainforests have in common? Both are subjects of ongoing meetings of The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Trade Organization/TRIPS. From June 6 to 15, delegates are gathering in Geneva to debate the best methods for protecting so-called traditional knowledge, cultural expressions and biological materials from misappropriation. At issue are claims by indigenous and local communities that foreign interests are exploiting their cultural and biological bounties. These interlopers are accused of violations ranging from withholding commercial benefits that flow from products made from the communities' resources (or their traditions) to eroding their cultural identities. Among those charging cultural infringement are the Indigenous Peoples of the Former Soviet Union. Nursing an historical grievance that dates to 1783, their delegate told of the Tsar's appropriation of sacred Crimean springs, medieval mountain monasteries and even the local herding dog (now called the Russian Shepherd Dog). The Crimean annexation tale evoked sympathy, but it was hard to know exactly what was at stake for the indigenous constituents today. Contrast the Crimean plight -- more a symbolic bid for reparations, it seemed -- with the proposal to change international patent law to protect genetic resources. In that case, the implications are more palpable. In fact, a new report released at the WIPO meeting last week says that weighting down the patent process with new mandates is bad for medical progress: it risks suppressing production of new drugs. Economists Timothy Wolfe and Benjamin Zycher, both with the Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco, have estimated that 150-200 new drugs would be lost over the next 20 years. Before examining the results of the Wolfe-Zycher study, let's review recent history of intellectual property and genetic resources. The backdrop was set in 1992 with the introduction of modern efforts to protect biodiversity in the face of so-called biopiracy, the stealing of local genetic material. That year, the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) was ratified, properly affirming the rights of countries over their biological resources in much the same way that they owned other natural resources such as timber or fishing rights. At the most recent session of the CBD in February 2005 in Bangkok, a subgroup of 17 of the CBD countries calling themselves the Like-Minded Group of Mega-Diverse Countries -- mega because together they comprise almost three quarters of all plant and animal varieties on earth --proposed a mandatory amendment to international patent law whereby inventors would be required to list the place of origin of the genetic material used in products they make as well as any traditional knowledge held by native people that might have attracted interest in the material in the first place. An alternative to undermining the patent system approach is a contractual one. There are numerous examples of private arrangements between drug companies and local communities that have worked well -- from the standpoint of benefiting the community, if not generating new drugs. The classic case is the relationship between Costa Rica and Merck. During the 1990's the drug company invested over $2 million in the country's National Institute for Biodiversity. Known as INBio, the project continues (though Merck's participation ended after a decade) and it is so successful that InBio scientists regularly engage with scientists elsewhere. Despite the success of the InBio-Merck project in terms of building local scientific infrastructure, none of the compounds studied by the institute went on to yield any profit. Until now, bioprospecting has proceeded largely by private contractual arrangement. Starting three years ago, in 2002, the Convention introduced the idea of voluntary patent guidelines (the Bonn Guidelines) for what is known as Access and Benefit Sharing. The guidelines contained a provision for the "fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources." According to the CBD Secretariat, however, very few countries have implemented the voluntary regime. This may only increase the pressure for CBD members to vote for a mandatory Access and Benefit Sharing system at the next meeting of the CBD in 2006. The prospect of alteration in patent law creates ambiguities that undermine the incentive of companies to pursue natural molecules and genetic resources. While the chilling effect on searching for new plants and molecules may not impose a major obstacle to drug development the implications for genetic information is likely to be meaningful. In particular, scientists are increasingly interested in gene sequencing information for use in medicine or crop enhancement. But depending upon the nature of Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) regime to be voted upon in 2006, biotech and pharmaceutical companies may be inhibited from gene hunting and genetic resource development. Consider the Brazilian delegation's proposal. Under the CBD, this plan would permit revocation of the patent and partial or full transfer of patent ownership and even financial penalties if the patent application lacked complete disclosure of origin and traditional knowledge. But how complete is complete? For example, what if Tribe A was taught by the ancestors of Tribe B how to cultivate a particular plant -- who is the true "owner" of this traditional knowledge? Granted, the Brazilian proposal may be excessively punitive. Nonetheless, opportunities for uncertainty -- and hence litigation -- abound. How to calculate the contribution of genetic material to the value of the product when a company invests millions to bring it to market? What if the use of genetic resources or traditional knowledge was incidental, rather than directly connected, to the invention? And how to deal with India's new patent law, a Catch-22 that requires that the application include specific information about the benefits of "any invention based on any research or information on a biological resource obtained from India." Can the applicant be expected to know in advance what the benefits of his research will be, or if there will be a useable product? With WIPO estimating that there are 3000 representatives of traditional knowledge holding communities in 60 locations around the world, the potential for disclosure irregularities and hence litigation is staggering. And this brings us back to Wolfe and Zycher. Their study suggests that an ABS system that concentrates on the forfeiture of intellectual property creates a vast disincentive to invest in biotechnology that could somehow be traced to a country's genetic resource or related cultural knowledge. The spectre of patent revocation, Wolfe and Zycher have found, would reduce the value of biotech and pharmaceutical capital stock by $144 billion over 20 years across 27 countries. This represents a 27 percent decline in what the stock would otherwise be valued at. In terms of actual medicines, as mentioned earlier, the authors estimate that 150-200 fewer drugs would be realized over the next 20 years should an anti-patent regime be accepted by CBD members. Considering that 38 new drugs became available in 2004 in the U.S., this is the equivalent of 4 to 5 dormant years for the pharmaceutical industry with no new treatments for the patients who are its beneficiaries. To appreciate the impact on patients -- just focusing, for argument's sake on HIV/AIDS and cancer -- simply look at a tiny sample of the drugs that emerged in the last 4-5 years … and then imagine they never were developed. In October 2001, the FDA approved Viread (Gilead) for HIV. It belongs to a new class of drugs called Nucleotide Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors. The body converts Viread into a chemical that prevents HIV from reproducing in uninfected cells, thus making it the first drug to prevent HIV. Then in March 2003, Fuzeon (Roche) was approved. It was the first drug in the long awaited new class of HIV medications called entry, or fusion, inhibitors. While other HIV medications work after HIV has entered the cell, entry inhibitors prevent HIV from entering the cell at all. Experts believe that this represents a major breakthrough in the treatment of HIV and AIDS. Fuzeon blocks HIV's ability to infect healthy immune system cells. On the cancer front, Avastin (Genentech) was approved last year. It is used in combination with chemotherapy and is first-line treatment of patients with metastatic carcinoma of the colon or rectum. It works by preventing the proliferation of blood vessels within a tumor. By literally cutting the life line to the tumor, Avastin is the first anti-angiogenic therapy proven to help people with metastatic colorectal cancer live longer. Many other HIV-AIDS and cancer drugs are in development. Sadly, these diseases will be with us always but as the demographics are shifting to longer lifespans, another disease -- Alzheimer's -- is expected to grow dramatically in the coming decades. For mild Alzheimer's disease, two drugs are showing promise -- Flurizan (Myriad Genetics) and Alzhemed (Neurochem) These two therapies would work by interfering with the production of beta-amyloid (the protein plaques that build up in the brain causing inflammation that disrupts and then destroys nerve cells). Currently available medications treat only disease symptoms. Wolfe and Zycher made the rounds at the WIPO and WTO meetings, presenting their data as a momentously cautionary tale. India and Africa, one hopes, took special note. These countries are two of the most vocal anti-patent members of the Convention on Biodiversity; at the same time they are overwhelmed with new HIV-AIDS cases and stand to lose resoundingly if development of new anti-retrovirals or HIV vaccines is suppressed. At the close of the meetings on June 15, a vision of the ABS proposal should come into greater focus. Delegates heeding the economists' findings will surely think twice before overturning a contractual system and supplanting it with a patent-encumbering regime. If not, pharmaceutical innovation will be at stake. - www.techcentralstation.com -- Prabhu Ram, Max-Planck-Institut for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law, MarstallPlatz 1, 80539 Munich GERMANY Tel: + 49 89 24246226 Mob: + 49 17629830521 Web: http://infoserve.blogspot.com From tahir.amin at btopenworld.com Tue Jun 14 16:32:13 2005 From: tahir.amin at btopenworld.com (TAHIR AMIN) Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 12:02:13 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Commons-Law] Fwd: Patent Office Manual Message-ID: <20050614110213.61753.qmail@web86103.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Dear all, In the event you have not seen this, attached is a link to the Patent Office Manual on Practice and Procedure. http://www.patentoffice.nic.in/ipr/patent/manual.htm. The Manual is currently in draft form and any comments on its content can be made by to the Controller General by 20 June 2005. The Manual sets out the procedure and guidelines to the patenting process and how personnel at the Patent Office (“PO”) should interpret the provisions of the Act and associated rules. The question is whether the PO will follow the Manual strictly (in other jurisdictions such as the U.S/U.K and EPO this is usually the case), although, naturally, interpretations and practice can change as case law evolves. Nevertheless, the Manual can serve as a useful reference tool for anticipating how an application/opposition should be dealt and how the PO is interpreting the Act. The PO's interpretation/guidelines on some of the new contentious provisions are quite heartening, to the extent that they appear to have taken into account many of the critical comments which have been aired following the passing of the Act. However, what will be the case in practice once the new provisions are challenged remains to be seen. Some of the key areas of the new law which the Manual discusses. Page 12, 2.3 – Inventive Step (Non-obviousness) One of the main contentions with the new definition of ‘inventive step’ was the possible interpretation that a patent application could be considered to meet the ‘inventive step' requirement for patentability if it solely has ‘economic siginifcance’, rather than a technical advance and economic significance. The Manual gives the following guideline which an examiner should consider when determining inventive step in relation to economic significance: (a) assessing the technical result (or effect) and economic value achieved by the invention. It would appear on reading this guideline that the PO is linking economic value with the result/effect of the technical advance, rather than letting the two criteria stand alone, note the word ‘and’. However, it will be interesting to see how the PO will interpret the inventive step definition in practice, when it could be read as ‘technical advance . or having economic significance’. Continuing with the concept of commercial success, but in relation to the ‘usefulness’ of the claimed patent, on page 13, 2.4 under ‘Industrial Applicability’ one of the guidelines is: (b) The usefulness of an alleged invention depends not on whether by following the directions in the complete specification all the results (not)- ignore as appears to be a typo in text) necessary for commercial success can be obtained, but on whether by such directions the effects that the application/patentee professed to produce. It appears the PO has adopted a position that ‘usefulness’ of the application should be judged not on its ability to achieve commercial success, but the effects (arguably the technical advance that the invention is claimed to achieve as described in the specification). Again this can be seen as a positive approach by the PO in curbing frivolous patents, albeit the ultimate test lies in how they interpret ‘inventive step’. Page 17-18, 2.8 Non Patentable Inventions The interpretation of section 3(d), which covers the non-patentability of ‘new forms of a known substance which does not result in the enhancement of the known efficacy of that substance or new use of a known substance”, appears to be indicate that new use of know substances will not be patentable. The Manual reads: “Mere discovery of new property is not patentable invention e.g a mere discovery of a new property of the substance such as aspirin for use of some other disease cannot be considered patentable, in mere use of aspirin for cardio-vascular disease which was earlier used for analgesic purpose is not patentable – although a new and alternative method for preparing Aspirin is. New use for a known substance is also not patentable; it means 2nd or 3rd use for a known substance cannot be allowed. While this interpretation is in the right direction to prevent new use of existing medicines, the Manual does not go into any explanation of how it will interpret ‘new use’ where there is ‘an enhancement of the known efficacy of that substance’. Comments should be made on the point that ‘enhancement of the known efficacy’ needs to be a test with high standards, otherwise, minor enhancements will simply allow new properties of known substances to be patented, thereby allowing new use. The Manual on page 18 also provides an insight to inclusion of the word ‘mere’ before ‘new use’, which was a bone of contention in the AMTC campaign, explaining that it was included for drafting clarity as without it the sub-section would have remained ambiguous. Interestingly and on a positive note, it states “this does not restrict the non-patentability and give rise to ambiguity and possible misuse. There is no need to give a wider meaning to it”. Page 138 - Annexure 1 This section provides examination guidelines for examiners for applications relating to chemicals, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Of note is the guideline that "known pharmaceutical compositions in different new dosages and different forms are not patentable under s3(d)", which could potentially have escaped the provision as being accepted as an 'enhancement of the known efficacy'. Page 22, s3(k) and Page 143 Annexure II These sections provide guidelines and interpretations for computer related inventions. It would be useful to have some thoughts/feedback from the list on the interpretations given here. Page 62, 6.1 Publication of Applications Page 62, the Manual gives no indication as to what test it will adopt for determining what a ‘reasonable royalty’ will be, although it does state under the compulsory licence section that a ‘reasonable price’ depends on circumstances of each case and it is likely to be a case by case basis. Nevertheless, a transparent criteria for determining a ‘reasonable royalty’ should be demanded. Similarly a test for determining what will be considered to be a ‘significant investment’ needs to be transparent and set out. Page 96, 10.6 Procedure for grant of Compulsory Licence Other than cite clauses from the Act the Manual doesn’t really give further insight into the process (other than setting out the procedure for a national compulsory licence on page 97). On a positive note, the flow diagram on page 97 confirms that a request for a compulsory licence under s92 and s92A i.e national emergency or for export, can be made immediately after the grant of a patent, which was thought to be the case. Cheers Tahir Amin --------------------------------- Can't remember an address in your address book? Enter the first few letters and Address AutoComplete will automatically finish it. Get Yahoo! Mail --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger NEW - crystal clear PC to PCcalling worldwide with voicemail -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050614/353d6685/attachment.html From srinivas at southcentre.org Tue Jun 14 17:55:31 2005 From: srinivas at southcentre.org (srinivas at southcentre.org) Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 14:25:31 +0200 Subject: [Commons-Law] Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits In-Reply-To: <20050614090518.ABFFA28D97C@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: An organisation based in USA claims that clay cups is its trademark.They sell clay cups which they claim are made by dalit community outside hyderabad. For me this is problematic on many grounds. First of all clay cup is a mundane thing and to claim trade mark over that is atrocious. It is done in the name of helping dalits but the trade mark owners are dalits or potters. And in the cup one finds the name DalitNetwork.org If the clay cup is a symbol of oppression why even that should be commercilaised by obtaining trade mark. And not all those who use clay cups are dalits. And not all dalits use clay cups. But when they commercialise this they fail to mention that using clay cups exclusively for dalits is a custom found in some places.Instead it is claimed "clay cups are commonly used by establishments in india and are provided exclusively for dalits" . This is misleading. Dalit organisations and activists should take up this matter and protest against the trade mark as well as the move to commercialise social oppression. http://www.dalitnetwork.org/Documents/Art2ClayCup.html K.Ravi Srinivas -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050614/fb738f06/attachment.html From jaynakothari at justice.com Tue Jun 14 18:56:44 2005 From: jaynakothari at justice.com (Jayna Kothari) Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 06:26:44 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Commons-Law] Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits Message-ID: <20050614132647.3316.fh053.wm@smtp.sc0.cp.net> Dear Ravi, I checked out the website about the clay cups used by dalit Network.org as I was quite curious. The website shows that it is only the phrase 'Clay Cup' for which a trademark application is made, since the 'TM' symbol is shown. In any case, only a word, symbol, sign, shape etc can be protected through a trademark and not the cup made of clay itself. cheers, Jayna On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 14:25:31 +0200, srinivas at southcentre.org wrote: An organisation based in USA claims that clay cups is its trademark.They sell clay cups which they claim are made by dalit community outside hyderabad. For me this is problematic on many grounds. First of all clay cup is a mundane thing and to claim trade mark over that is atrocious. It is done in the name of helping dalits but the trade mark owners are dalits or potters. And in the cup one finds the name DalitNetwork.org If the clay cup is a symbol of oppression why even that should be commercilaised by obtaining trade mark. And not all those who use clay cups are dalits. And not all dalits use clay cups. But when they commercialise this they fail to mention that using clay cups exclusively for dalits is a custom found in some places.Instead it is claimed "clay cups are commonly used by establishments in india and are provided exclusively for dalits" . This is misleading. Dalit organisations and activists should take up this matter and protest against the trade mark as well as the move to commercialise social oppression. http://www.dalitnetwork.org/Documents/Art2ClayCup.html K.Ravi Srinivas _________________________________________________ FindLaw - Free Case Law, Jobs, Library, Community http://www.FindLaw.com Get your FREE @JUSTICE.COM email! http://mail.Justice.com From srinivas at southcentre.org Tue Jun 14 19:25:43 2005 From: srinivas at southcentre.org (srinivas at southcentre.org) Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 15:55:43 +0200 Subject: [Commons-Law] Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits In-Reply-To: <20050614132647.3316.fh053.wm@smtp.sc0.cp.net> Message-ID: Dear Jayna I know that.But my question is why should there be a trade mark on Clay Cup in the first place. I can understand if Star Bucks develops a design for cup and gets IP rights over it. But what happens if Star Bucks applies for and gets a trade mark Coffee Cup or Plastic Cup. In this case they are using the name of the dalits for this purpose. And as pointed out their claim about clay cups is not true. cheers ravi K.Ravi Srinivas Post Doctoral Fellow IPR Policy Research & Development Program South Centre 17-19 Chemin Du Champ d'Anier 1209 Petit Saconnex Geneva Switzerland Postal Address K.Ravi Srinivas South Centre CP 228 1211 Geneva 19 Switzerland Tel: +41 22 791 81 67 Fax: +41 22 798 85 31 email: srinivas at southcentre.org "Jayna Kothari" 14.06.2005 15:26 To srinivas at southcentre.org cc commons-law at sarai.net Subject Re: [Commons-Law] Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits Dear Ravi, I checked out the website about the clay cups used by dalit Network.org as I was quite curious. The website shows that it is only the phrase 'Clay Cup' for which a trademark application is made, since the 'TM' symbol is shown. In any case, only a word, symbol, sign, shape etc can be protected through a trademark and not the cup made of clay itself. cheers, Jayna On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 14:25:31 +0200, srinivas at southcentre.org wrote: An organisation based in USA claims that clay cups is its trademark.They sell clay cups which they claim are made by dalit community outside hyderabad. For me this is problematic on many grounds. First of all clay cup is a mundane thing and to claim trade mark over that is atrocious. It is done in the name of helping dalits but the trade mark owners are dalits or potters. And in the cup one finds the name DalitNetwork.org If the clay cup is a symbol of oppression why even that should be commercilaised by obtaining trade mark. And not all those who use clay cups are dalits. And not all dalits use clay cups. But when they commercialise this they fail to mention that using clay cups exclusively for dalits is a custom found in some places.Instead it is claimed "clay cups are commonly used by establishments in india and are provided exclusively for dalits" . This is misleading. Dalit organisations and activists should take up this matter and protest against the trade mark as well as the move to commercialise social oppression. http://www.dalitnetwork.org/Documents/Art2ClayCup.html K.Ravi Srinivas _________________________________________________ FindLaw - Free Case Law, Jobs, Library, Community http://www.FindLaw.com Get your FREE @JUSTICE.COM email! http://mail.Justice.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050614/662f14c3/attachment.html From ghulam_muhammed2 at yahoo.co.in Tue Jun 14 00:33:23 2005 From: ghulam_muhammed2 at yahoo.co.in (Ghulam Muhammed) Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 12:03:23 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Commons-Law] [arkitectindia] The Power of Nightmares - Transcript of a BBC documentary Message-ID: <20050613190323.7124.qmail@web8406.mail.in.yahoo.com> Baby It's Cold Outside (first half) ... 31 October 04 The Power of Nightmares Transcript of the first half of Episode 1, “Baby It’s Cold Outside” full-length Bittorrent file Originally aired on BBC 2, 20 October 2004, 9 pm Written and Produced by Adam Curtis VO: In the past, politicians promised to create a better world. They had different ways of achieving this. But their power and authority came from the optimistic visions they offered to their people. Those dreams failed. And today, people have lost faith in ideologies. Increasingly, politicians are seen simply as managers of public life. But now, they have discovered a new role that restores their power and authority. Instead of delivering dreams, politicians now promise to protect us from nightmares. They say that they will rescue us from dreadful dangers that we cannot see and do not understand. And the greatest danger of all is international terrorism. A powerful and sinister network, with sleeper cells in countries across the world. A threat that needs to be fought by a war on terror. But much of this threat is a fantasy, which has been exaggerated and distorted by politicians. It’s a dark illusion that has spread unquestioned through governments around the world, the security services, and the international media. VO: This is a series of films about how and why that fantasy was created, and who it benefits. At the heart of the story are two groups: the American neoconservatives, and the radical Islamists. Both were idealists who were born out of the failure of the liberal dream to build a better world. And both had a very similar explanation for what caused that failure. These two groups have changed the world, but not in the way that either intended. Together, they created today’s nightmare vision of a secret, organized evil that threatens the world. A fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age. And those with the darkest fears became the most powerful. [ OPENING TITLES: THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES / THE RISE OF THE POLITICS OF FEAR Part One: BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE ] VO: The story begins in the summer of 1949 [ TITLE: COLORADO 1949 ] VO: ...when a middle-aged school inspector from Egypt arrived at the small town of Greeley, in Colorado. His name was Sayyed Qutb. Qutb had been sent to the U.S. to study its educational system, and he enrolled in the local state college. His photographs appear in the college yearbook. But Qutb was destined to become much more than a school inspector. Out of his experiences of America that summer, Qutb was going to develop a powerful set of ideas that would directly inspire those who flew the planes on the attack of September the 11th. As he had traveled across the country, Qutb had become increasingly disenchanted with America. The very things that, on the surface, made the country look prosperous and happy, Qutb saw as signs of an inner corruption and decay. JOHN CALVERT, Islamist historian: This was Truman’s America, and many Americans today regard it as a golden age of their civilization. But for Qutb, he saw a sinister side in this. All around him was crassness, corruption, vulgarity—talk centered on movie stars and automobile prices. He was also very concerned that the inhabitants of Greeley spent a lot of time in lawn care. Pruning their hedges, cutting their lawns. This, for Qutb, was indicative of the selfish and materialistic aspect of American life. Americans lived these isolated lives surrounded by their lawns. They lusted after material goods. And this, says Qutb quite succinctly, is the taste of America. VO: What Qutb believed he was seeing was a hidden and dangerous reality underneath the surface of ordinary American life. One summer night, he went to a dance at a local church hall. He later wrote that what he saw that night crystallized his vision. CALVERT: He talks about how the pastor played on the gramophone one of the big-band hits of the day, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” He dimmed the lights so as to create a dreamy, romantic effect. And then, Qutb says that “chests met chests, arms circled waists, and the hall was full of lust and love.” VO: To most people watching this dance, it would have been an innocent picture of youthful happiness. But Qutb saw something else: the dancers in front of him were tragic lost souls. They believed that they were free. But in reality, they were trapped by their own selfish and greedy desires. American society was not going forwards; it was taking people backwards. They were becoming isolated beings, driven by primitive animal forces. Such creatures, Qutb believed, could corrode the very bonds that held society together. And he became determined that night to prevent this culture of selfish individualism taking over his own country. [ TITLE: CHICAGO ] VO: But Qutb was not alone. At the same time, in Chicago, there was another man who shared the same fears about the destructive force of individualism in America. He was an obscure political philosopher at the University of Chicago. But his ideas would also have far-reaching consequences, because they would become the shaping force behind the neoconservative movement, which now dominates the American administration. He was called Leo Strauss. Strauss is a mysterious figure. He refused to be filmed or interviewed. He devoted his time to creating a loyal band of students. And what he taught them was that the prosperous liberal society they were living in contained the seeds of its own destruction. Professor HARVEY MANSFIELD, Straussian Philosopher, Harvard University: He didn’t give interviews, or write political essays, or appear on the radio—there wasn’t TV yet—or things like that. But he did want to get a school of students to see what he had seen: that Western liberalism led to nihilism, and had undergone a development at the end of which it could no longer define itself or defend itself. A development which took everything praiseworthy and admirable out of human beings, and made us into dwarf animals. Made us into herd animals—sick little dwarves, satisfied with a dangerous life in which nothing is true and everything is permitted. VO: Strauss believed that the liberal idea of individual freedom led people to question everything—all values, all moral truths. Instead, people were led by their own selfish desires. And this threatened to tear apart the shared values which held society together. But there was a way to stop this, Strauss believed. It was for politicians to assert powerful and inspiring myths that everyone could believe in. They might not be true, but they were necessary illusions. One of these was religion; the other was the myth of the nation. And in America, that was the idea that the country had a unique destiny to battle the forces of evil throughout the world. This myth was epitomized, Strauss told his students, in his favorite television program: Gunsmoke. Professor STANLEY ROSEN, Pupil of Leo Strauss 1949: Strauss was a great fan of American television. Gunsmoke was his great favorite, and he would hurry home from the seminar, which would end at, you know, 5:30 or so, and have a quick dinner so he could be at his seat before the television set when Gunsmoke came on. And he felt that this was good, this show. This had a salutary effect on the American public, because it showed the conflict between good and evil in a way that would be immediately intelligible to everyone. BAD MAN on Gunsmoke: Let’s see what happens! JAMES ARNESS: No! [ SHOOTS bad man; bad man DROPS to the ground ] ROSEN: The hero has a white hat; he’s faster on the draw than the bad man; the good guy wins. And it’s not just that the good guy wins, but that values are clear. That’s America! We’re gonna triumph over the evils of of that are trying to destroy us and the virtues of the Western frontier. Good and evil. VO: Leo Strauss’ other favorite program was Perry Mason. And this, he told his students, epitomized the role that they, the élite, had to play. In public, they should promote the myths necessary to rescue America from decay. But in private, they didn’t have to believe in them. ROSEN: Perry Mason was different from Gunsmoke. The extremely cunning man who, as far as we can see, is very virtuous and uses his great intelligence and quickness of mind to rescue his clients from dangers, but who could be fooling us—because he’s cleverer than we are. Is he really telling the truth? Maybe his client is guilty! VO: In 1950, Sayyed Qutb traveled back to Egypt from America. He too was determined to find some way of controlling the forces of selfish individualism. And as he traveled, he began to envisage a new type of society. It would have all the modern benefits of Western science and technology, but a more political Islam would have a central role to play, keeping individualism in check. It would provide a moral framework that would stop people’s selfish desires from overwhelming them. But Qutb realized that American culture was already spreading to Egypt, trapping the masses in its seductive dream. What was needed, he believed, was an élite, a vanguard who could see through these illusions of freedom, just as he had in America, and who would then lead the masses to realize the higher truth. Dr AZZAM TAMIMI, Institute of Islamic Political Thought: The masses need to be led. And it is this vanguard group that will be responsible for the task of leading the people out of the darkness and into the light of Islam. Because the masses had succumbed to their own selfish desires, and he wanted the vanguard to be different, to be pure, to be standing together outside all of this corrupt situation, bringing people back to the truth. VO: On his return, Qutb became politically active in Egypt. He joined a group called the Muslim Brotherhood, who wanted Islam to play a major role in governing Egyptian society. And in 1952, the Brotherhood supported the revolution led by General Nasser that overthrew the last remnants of British rule. But Nasser very quickly made it clear that the new Egypt was going to be a secular society that emulated Western morals. He quickly forged an alliance with America. And the CIA came to Egypt to organize security agencies for the new régime. Faced with this, the Muslim Brotherhood began to organize against Nasser, and in 1954 Qutb and other leading members of the Brotherhood were arrested by the security services. What then happened to Qutb was going to have consequences for the whole world. [ ARABIC-SPEAKING VOICE FROM PRISON CAMP FILM ] VO: In the 1970s, this film was made, that showed what happened in Nasser’s main prison in the ‘50s and ‘60s. It was based on the testimony of survivors. Torturers who had been trained by the CIA unleashed an orgy of violence against Muslim Brotherhood members accused of plotting to overthrow Nasser. At one point, Qutb was covered with animal fat and locked in a cell with dogs trained to attack humans. Inside the cell, he had a heart attack. General FOUAD ALLAM, Interrogator Interior Ministry 1958-87 (speaking in Arabic; subtitled): Sayyed Qutb thought of himself as a superior sort of person. He saw himself as an important Islamist thinker and a strong character. And so on and so on. But at the end of the day, when he was in the military prison he gave us the exact details about his secret group and the orders he had given. The most dangerous was the order to flood the whole of the Nile delta and drown this corrupt land of infidels. VO: Qutb survived, but the torture had a powerful radicalizing effect on his ideas. Up to this point, he had believed that the Western secular ideas simply created the selfishness and the isolation he had seen in the United States. But the torture, he believed, showed that this culture also unleashed the most brutal and barbarous aspects of human beings. Qutb began to have an apocalyptic vision of a disease that was spreading from the West throughout the world. He called it jahilliyah—a state of barbarous ignorance. What made it so terrifying and insidious was that people didn’t realize that they were infected. They believed that they were free, and that their politicians were taking them forward to a new world. But in fact, they were regressing to a barbarous age. ROXANNE EUBEN, Political Scientist: The sense is that jahilliyah is so dangerous now, because not only is it advanced by Western powers, but Muslims—this is like a charge of false consciousness—Muslims have become infected with this jahilliyah, so now the threat to Islam is also from within. It’s from without, and within. It’s a state of emergency, because jahilliyah is a condition that pervades everything and everybody. It’s even infected our powers of imagination—we don’t even know that we’re sick! That we now worship materialism, and the self, and individual truths over the real truths. Um, so it’s an incredible sense of epic confrontation, where Islam is being insulted on all fronts—from within, from without, culturally, militarily, economically, politically. And under those circumstances, any way of fighting it becomes justified and legitimate, and in fact has a kind of existential weight, because somehow it’s doing God’s will on earth. VO: To Qutb, this force of jahilliyah had now gone so deep into the minds of Muslims that a dramatic way had to be found to free them. In a series of books he wrote secretly in prison, which were then smuggled out, Qutb called upon a revolutionary vanguard to rise up and overthrow the leaders who had allowed jahilliyah to infect their countries. The implication was that these leaders could justifiably be killed, because they had become so corrupted, they were no longer Muslims, even though they said they were. Faced with this, Nasser decided to crush Qutb and his ideas, and in 1966 Qutb was put on trial for treason. This is the only known film of Qutb as he awaits sentence. The verdict was a foregone conclusion, and on August 29, 1966, Qutb was executed. But his ideas lived on. The day after his execution, a young schoolboy set up a secret group. He hoped that it would one day become the vanguard that Qutb had hoped for. His name was Ayman Zawahiri, and Zawahiri was to become the mentor to Osama bin-Laden. [ TITLE: AMERICA 1967 ] VO: But at the very moment when Sayyed Qutb’s ideas seemed dead and buried, Leo Strauss’ ideas about how to transform America were about to become powerful and influential, because the liberal political order that had dominated America since the war started to collapse. [ TITLE: 11pm, JULY 25th 1967 ] PRESIDENT LYNDON B. JOHNSON: Law and order have broken down in Detroit, Michigan. Pillage, looting, murder VO: Only a few years before, President Johnson had promised policies that would create a new and a better world in America. He had called it “the Great Society.” [ TITLE: President LYNDON JOHNSON, 1964 ] JOHNSON: The Great Society is in place where every child can find knowledge to enrich his mind. It is a place where the City of Man VO: But now, in the wake of some of the worst riots ever seen in America, that dream seemed to have ended in violence and hatred. One prominent liberal journalist called Irving Kristol began to question whether it might actually be the policies themselves that were causing social breakdown. IRVING KRISTOL: If you had asked any liberal in 1960, we are going to pass these laws, these laws, these laws, and these laws, mentioning all the laws that in fact were passed in the 1960s and ‘70s, would you say crime will go up, drug addiction will go up, illegitimacy will go up, or will they get down? Obviously, everyone would have said, they will get down. And everyone would have been wrong. Now, that’s not something that the liberals have been able to face up to. They’ve had their reforms, and they have led to consequences that they did not expect and they don’t know what to do about. VO: In the early ‘70s, Irving Kristol became the focus of a group of disaffected intellectuals in Washington. They were determined to understand why the optimistic liberal policies had failed. And they found the answer in the theories of Leo Strauss. Strauss explained that it was the very basis of the liberal idea—the belief in individual freedom—that was causing the chaos, because it undermined the shared moral framework that held society together. Individuals pursued their own selfish interests, and this inevitably led to conflict. As the movement grew, many young students who had studied Strauss’ ideas came to Washington to join this group. Some, like Paul Wolfowitz, had been taught Strauss’ ideas at the University of Chicago, as had Francis Fukuyama. And others, like Irving Kristol’s son William, had studied Strauss’ theories at Harvard. This group became known as the neoconservatives. WILLIAM KRISTOL: Well, many of them couldn’t get academic jobs, and the political science and philosophy faculties were not terribly friendly to those of a conservative or moderately conservative disposition. And the truth is that a lot of people who ended up in Washington started out as academics. I did; Paul Wolfowitz did; and decided they probably didn’t have very good prospects in the academy. What we all had in common, I think, was a certain doubt about what once seemed a kind of great certainty and confidence in liberal progress. The philosophic grounds for liberal democracy had been weakened. So I think Straussians who came to Washington, they didn’t think of themselves as Churchill or Lincoln, let me assure you, but they did that, you know, there’s something noble about public life, and about politics, and they tried to make a contribution in many different areas. VO: The neoconservatives were idealists. Their aim was to try and stop the social disintegration they believed liberal freedoms had unleashed. They wanted to find a way of uniting the people, by giving them a shared purpose. One of their great influences in doing this would be the theories of Leo Strauss. They would set out to recreate the myth of America as a unique nation whose destiny was to battle against evil in the world. And in this project, the source of evil would be America’s Cold War enemy: the Soviet Union. And by doing this, they believed that they would not only give new meaning and purpose to people’s lives, but they would spread the good of democracy around the world. Professor STEPHEN HOLMES, Political Philosopher: The United States would not only, according to these—the Straussians, be able to bring good to the world, but would be able to overcome the fundamental weaknesses of American society, a society that has been suffering, almost rotting, in their language, from relativism, liberalism, lack of self-confidence, lack of belief in itself. And one of the main political projects of the Straussians during the Cold War was to reinforce the self-confidence of Americans, and the belief that America was fundamentally the only force for good in the world, that had to be supported, otherwise evil would prevail. VO: But to do this, the neoconservatives were going to have to defeat one of the most powerful men in the world. Henry Kissinger was the Secretary of State under President Nixon, and he didn’t believe in a world of good and evil. What drove Kissinger was a ruthless, pragmatic vision of power in the world. With America’s growing political and social chaos, Kissinger wanted the country to give up its ideological battles. Instead, it should come to terms with countries like the Soviet Union, to create a new kind of global interdependence. A world in which America would be safe. HENRY KISSINGER, Interviewed 1975: I believe that with all the dislocations we know—now experience, there also exists an extraordinary opportunity to form, for the first time in history, a truly global society, carried by the principle of interdependence. And if we act wisely and with vision, I think we can look back to all this turmoil as the birth pangs of a more creative and better system. VO: Kissinger had begun this process in 1972, when he persuaded the Soviet Union to sign a treaty with America limiting nuclear arms. It was the start of what was called “détente.” And President Nixon returned to Washington to announce triumphantly that the age of fear was over. PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON, June 1, 1972: Last Friday, in Moscow, we witnessed the beginning of the end of that era which began in 1945. With this step, we have enhanced the security of both nations. We have begun to reduce the level of fear, by reducing the causes of fear—for our two peoples, and for all peoples in the world. VO: But a world without fear was not what the neoconservatives needed to pursue their project. They now set out to destroy Henry Kissinger’s vision. What gave them their opportunity was the growing collapse of American political power, both abroad and at home. The defeat in Vietnam, and the resignation of President Nixon over Watergate, led to a crisis of confidence in America’s political class. And the neoconservatives seized their moment. They allied themselves with two right-wingers in the new administration of Gerald Ford. One was Donald Rumsfeld, the new Secretary of Defense. The other was Dick Cheney, the President’s Chief of Staff. Rumsfeld began to make speeches alleging that the Soviets were ignoring Kissinger’s treaties and secretly building up their weapons, with the intention of attacking America. DONALD RUMSFELD, US Secretary of Defense, Speaking in 1976: The Soviet Union has been busy. They’ve been busy in terms of their level of effort; they’ve been busy in terms of the actual weapons they’ve been producing; they’ve been busy in terms of expanding production rates; they’ve been busy in terms of expanding their institutional capability to produce additional weapons at additional rates; they’ve been busy in terms of expanding their capability to increasingly improve the sophistication of those weapons. Year after year after year, they’ve been demonstrating that they have steadiness of purpose. They’re purposeful about what they’re doing. Now, your question is, what ought one to be doing about that? VO: The CIA, and other agencies who watched the Soviet Union continuously for any sign of threat, said that this was a complete fiction. There was no truth to Rumsfeld’s allegations. But Rumsfeld used his position to persuade President Ford to set up an independent inquiry. He said it would prove that there was a hidden threat to America. And the inquiry would be run by a group of neoconservatives, one of whom was Paul Wolfowitz. The aim was to change the way America saw the Soviet Union. MELVIN GOODMAN, Head of Office of Soviet Affairs CIA, 1976-87: And Rumsfeld won that very intense, intense political battle that was waged in Washington in 1975 and 1976. Now, as part of that battle, Rumsfeld and others, people such as Paul Wolfowitz, wanted to get into the CIA. And their mission was to create a much more severe view of the Soviet Union, Soviet intentions, Soviet views about fighting and winning a nuclear war. VO: The neoconservatives chose, as the inquiry chairman, a well-known critic and historian of the Soviet Union called Richard Pipes. Pipes was convinced that whatever the Soviets said publicly, secretly they still intended to attack and conquer America. This was their hidden mindset. The inquiry was called Team B, and the other leading member was Paul Wolfowitz. Professor RICHARD PIPES: And the idea was then to appoint a group of outside experts who have access to the same evidence as the CIA used to arrive at these conclusions, and to see if they could come up with different conclusions. And I was asked to chair it, because I was not an expert on nuclear weapons. I was, if anything, an expert on the Soviet mindset, but not on the weapons. But that was the real key, was the question of the Soviet mindset, because the CIA looked only at—they were known as “bean counters,” always looking at weapons. But weapons can be used in various ways. They can be used for defensive purposes or offensive purposes. Well, all right, I collected this group of experts, and we began to sift through the evidence. VO: Team B began examining all the CIA data on the Soviet Union. But however closely they looked, there was little evidence of the dangerous weapons or defense systems they claimed the Soviets were developing. Rather than accept that this meant that the systems didn’t exist, Team B made an assumption that the Soviets had developed systems that were so sophisticated, they were undetectible. For example, they could find no evidence that the Soviet submarine fleet had an acoustic defense system. What this meant, Team B said, was that the Soviets had actually invented a new non-acoustic system, which was impossible to detect. And this meant that the whole of the American submarine fleet was at risk from an invisible threat that was there, even though there was no evidence for it. Dr ANNE CAHN, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, 1977-80: They couldn’t say that the Soviets had acoustic means of picking up American submarines, because they couldn’t find it. So they said, well maybe they have a non-acoustic means of making our submarine fleet vulnerable. But there was no evidence that they had a non-acoustic system. They’re saying, “we can’t find evidence that they’re doing it the way that everyone thinks they’re doing it, so they must be doing it a different way. We don’t know what that different way is, but they must be doing it.” INTERVIEWER (off-camera): Even though there was no evidence. CAHN: Even though there was no evidence. INTERVIEWER: So they’re saying there, that the fact that the weapon doesn’t exist CAHN: Doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. It just means that we haven’t found it. PIPES: Now, that’s important, yes. If something is not there, that’s significant. INTERVIEWER: By its absence. PIPES: By its absence. If you believe that they share your view of strategic weapons, and they don’t talk about it, then there’s something missing. Something is wrong. And the CIA wasn’t aware of that. VO: What Team B accused the CIA of missing was a hidden and sinister reality in the Soviet Union. Not only were there many secret weapons the CIA hadn’t found, but they were wrong about many of those they could observe, such as the Soviet air defenses. The CIA were convinced that these were in a state of collapse, reflecting the growing economic chaos in the Soviet Union. Team B said that this was actually a cunning deception by the Soviet régime. The air-defense system worked perfectly. But the only evidence they produced to prove this was the official Soviet training manual, which proudly asserted that their air-defense system was fully integrated and functioned flawlessly. The CIA accused Team B of moving into a fantasy world. PIPES: The CIA was very loath to deal with issues which could not be demonstrated in a kind of mathematical form. I said they could consider the soft evidence. They deal with realities, whereas this was a fantasy. That’s how it was perceived. And there were battles all the time on this subject. INTERVIEWER: Did you think it was a fantasy? PIPES: No! I thought it was absolute reality. CAHN: I would say that all of it was fantasy. I mean, they looked at radars out in Krasnoyarsk and said, “This is a laser beam weapon,” when in fact it was nothing of the sort. They even took a Russian military manual, which the correct translation of it is “The Art of Winning.” And when they translated it and put it into Team B, they called it “The Art of Conquest.” Well, there’s a difference between “conquest” and “winning.” And if you go through most of Team B’s specific allegations about weapons systems, and you just examine them one by one, they were all wrong. INTERVIEWER: All of them? CAHN: All of them. INTERVIEWER: Nothing true? CAHN: I don’t believe anything in Team B was really true. VO: The neoconservatives set up a lobby group to publicize the findings of Team B. It was called the Committee on the Present Danger, and a growing number of politicians joined, including a Presidential hopeful, Ronald Reagan. [ TITLE: The Price of Peace and Freedom / Committee on the Present Danger, propaganda film 1978 ] VO: Through films and television, the Committee portrayed a world in which America was under threat from hidden forces that could strike at any time, forces that America must conquer to survive. ALEKSANDR SOLZHENITSYN, through interpreter: A concentration of world evil, of hatred for humanity, is taking place. And it is fully determined to destroy your society. Must you wait until the young men of America have to fall defending the borders of their continent?! VO: This dramatic battle between good and evil was precisely the kind of myth that Leo Strauss had taught his students would be necessary to rescue the country from moral decay. It might not be true, but it was necessary, to re-engage the public in a grand vision of America’s destiny, that would give meaning and purpose to their lives. The neoconservatives were succeeding in creating a simplistic fiction—a vision of the Soviet Union as the center of all evil in the world, and America as the only country that could rescue the world. And this nightmarish vision was beginning to give the neoconservatives great power and influence. HOLMES: The Straussians started to create a worldview which is a fiction. The world is not divided into good and evil. The battle in which we are engaged is not a battle between good and evil. The United States, as anyone who observes understands, has done some good and some bad things. It’s like any great power. This is the way history is. But they wanted to create a world of moral certainties, so therefore they invent mythologies—fairytales—describing any force in the world that obstructs the United States as somehow Satanic, or associated with evil. Go to second half React! So, there\’s a simple answer to why the United States finds itself hated by the rest of the world, at war with a sixth of it, in a quagmire in Iraq, and burning money as if it were confetti even as we slide into environmental and social catastrophe: The Republican Party ideological elite is populated by morons. Passionate morons. This makes a great deal of sense. — js Oct 31, 8:05am # Powerful stuff, thank you for the hard work. — Guy Oct 31, 12:36pm # Except they spell it \”morans\”. Either way, rightwingnuts are idiots. — Lynn Nov 1, 2:12pm # But as the series shows, there’s another way to look at it. The ”rightwingnuts” who created and popularized the theories of neoconservatism are hardly ”morans.” Cynical, manipulative, power-hungry—absolutely. But many of them possess a kind of malign intelligence. As for the dupes who unthinkingly swill their Kool-aid, some of them are certainly stupid, but most of them are simply ignorant—and there’s a big difference between ignorance and stupidity. — vaara Nov 1, 6:11pm # Thanks for posting this. (And congratulations on the link from Digby.) — richardphx Nov 1, 7:13pm # As for those Kool-Aid dupes mentioned above by vaara, yes there is a difference between ignorance and stupidity, but I beg to differ on what it is. When you live in a democratic society with free media, in the most powerful country in the world, being `simply` ignorant, as if by accident, is not possible. It is a stupid and irresponsible choice. — Phyllisphish><> Nov 16, 11:34pm # Many people have other things to do than watch the news. It\’s a peripheral, abstracted, probably irrelevant thing (except perhaps the sports; their buddies watch that too) which they can trade brief platitudes about in a bar or while watching little league. On the other hand, they may have in-depth knowledge of their profession, of goings on in their county and state, of the details of the mechanisms of automobiles, etc, most of which are equally or more complex than this. This is because of the intermediaries who explain those things to them in a relevant, calm and unfatiguing way. It\’s not about lack of intellect or inability to comprehend. It\’s about failure of presentation, over-simplification and hoarding of power by the embeded upper-middle classes. It\’s about the continuation of the project to found a deniable empire. That\’s the bottom line. Money and power for the already affluent (via tax breaks, share holdings and displaced influential spending through manipulation of charities) and bread and circuses for the rest. That\’s why Bush won. The new, uncaring, irresponsible aristocracy is consolidating its position. — me Nov 20, 2:04pm # comments — Richard Dec 9, 5:44pm # It is frigthening to me how rapidly my fellow Americans have agreed to and accepted this nightmare vision of the world. In each of us there is the desire to be special and unique (elite). The Republicans give the public this status through statements full of veiled racist and fascist illusions. In my America, the image you project is more important than the reality of the self. All the factors of US culture now accellerate this fantasy world: hip-hop music and ‘bling’ fashion, corporate creative accounting, and now governmental edict. The funny (ok, maybe sad) part is that the ‘intellectual’ people driving this new world order are ignoring the historical parallels of other declining empires. The ascendancy of the wealthiest citizens, promoting ignorance among the ‘lower’ classes, spreading a false vision that the empire is morally and culturally superior to rest of the world, and the insistence that the institutions of the empire are all healthy and viable. Ancient Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times. — AnonUSA Dec 10, 10:54pm # silt3.com/index.php?id=572 the power of nightmares — me Dec 17, 4:32pm # The best way I can explain why the Neo-Cons are able to get away with what they are doing, is 9/11. That’s it. That’s all. The world outside of America believes that the ONLY bad things the American Gov’t is doing right now is the War in Iraq. I got news for you, and it may make you feel better. Americans are loosing their “Freedom”. The US Gov’t are passing laws left and right that are turning the US into a Police State. If you think the way the US Military treated the people of Fallujah was bad, wait till you see America in 10 years. Fallujah is just practice on how to indoctrinate the population of an entire city into a Martial Law Police State. They are retinal scanning, finger printing, DNA sampling, biometric (facial) measuring, and dumping it all into a huge database. I feel like I’m on the Titanic watching the band still playing while the whole thing goes down — agent fred Dec 18, 4:37am # Anybody with a new link to the film? Torrent doesn’t work anymore Thanks — Nose Quiensoy Dec 29, 12:47am # This “Team B” is the same one mentioned in The Unauthorised Biography mostly in Chapter 15 but a bit in chs 16 and 12 too — hclsmith Dec 29, 4:06am # What a relief to know that there are other Americans who see what is happening. I think the reason the neocons can get away with their campaign to dominate the world based on inculcated fear is the ignorance of the American people about history, even their own, about cultural differences, and about the attitudes and skills that engender critical thinking. Can anything be done about this? — sylvia morrison Dec 31, 7:46am # The payoff with figuring this all out is that ones intuition and the very bad feeling from that alone compounds this fear driven world view painted here. The PaPa will have to manufacture a really big fairy tale to sooth the masses. Chat room chatter is like a barometer hinting at all this clatter. I can feel the emotion and reason throbbing out of my computer into my veins and I bow before my screen. Then I Goggle on my powerless way to the grave waiting, to late, to really be a patriot. — Tom Hilber Dec 31, 12:55pm # I think I’ll take a stab at what I think is why people don’t see what is really happening. My parents had a word for it. The TV Triangle. Yupp, Like the bermuda triangle, it sucks you in and you can’t get out. My sisters and brothers would sit in front of the TV, dazed, and wouldn’t acknowledge when you called their name. The Media and the news play a huge part of a persons perspective of their world around them. Most Americans aren’t well Traveled and get most of our information from the boob tube. (Remember that movie?) Politicians and the Neo-cons, et al simply grasped onto that fact (no wonder we see the same stories on every channel) The Problem isn’t the liberals, independents, neo-cons or the Centrists etc. Its because of the Media we are Invaded by everywhere you look. Frankly, I havent been able to stand to watch corporate mass media for years. Got Books? — AckSyn JackSyn Feb 9, 4:48am # hello — Rania Feb 24, 9:55pm # Vaara, how lovely to find you again; Silt 3 is a great looking site. Thank-you for this transcript; it’s amazing stuff. I’m so glad you left the link at Digby. How’s your dog; still with you I hope? Again, thanks — Leah A Apr 29, 1:25pm # And thanks for your nice comments. Of course Mila is still with us—a bit older and fatter, but aren’t we all? A note to anyone else reading this: The Bittorrent links are bad. Suprnova has shut down. I’ll try to post an updated link ASAP. Also, thanks to the BAFTA award and the showings at the TriBeCa Film Festival and Cannes, it’s looking more likely that TPON may be released on DVD soon. Stay tuned! — vaara Apr 29, 1:34pm # I can’t but wonder what the good religtous people in my world will do when they figure out they sold out to neocons and the liberals start looking benign again. ------------- The Power of Nightmares Transcript of the second half of Episode 1, “Baby It’s Cold Outside” (first half) full-length Bittorrent file Originally aired on BBC 2, 20 October 2004, 9 pm Written and Produced by Adam Curtis TITLE: EGYPT 1979 [ CLIPS FROM WESTERN – STYLE EGYPTIAN TV COMMERCIALS ] Voice-Over: By the late 1970s, Egypt had been transformed. On the surface, it had become a modern, westernized state with a prosperous middle class who were benefiting from a flood of Western capital that was being invested in the country. One member of this prosperous Egyptian élite was Ayman Zawahiri. He was now a young doctor, just starting his career. OMAR AZZAM, Cousin of Ayman Zawahiri: Ayman, he was an ideal person, who was a doctor coming from a very good family. His father was a professor in the university, his grandfather was an ambassador, his other grandfather was Sheikh of al-Azhar; very well respected family. He used to be the sort of person that acted by the book. Not looking for prestige, not looking for money, not looking for propaganda. Ayman became a leader because of his attitudes. VO: In reality, Zawahiri was the leader of an underground Islamist cell. The group that he had started as a schoolboy, which he had modeled on the ideas of Sayyed Qutb, had grown. Sayyed Qutb’s ideas were now spreading rapidly in Egypt— above all, among students—because his predictions about the corruption from the West seemed to have come true. The government of President Sadat was controlled by a small group of millionaires, who were backed by Western banks. The banks had been let in by what Sadat called his open-door policy. To the Western media, Sadat denied any corruption. All Egyptians knew that this was a blatant lie. PRESIDENT SADAT 1977: Who has benefited now from the open-door policy? Taxi drivers. The liberals. All of those have benefited from the open-door policy. It is not like they say, that there are millionaires here and so. No, not at all. This is pure, um, pure black propaganda from the side of the Soviet Union and agents here in the country. VO: Zawahiri was convinced that the time was now approaching to fulfill Qutb’s vision. The vanguard should rise up and overthrow this corrupt régime. And the man who would give the Islamists that opportunity would be Henry Kissinger. As part of his attempt to create a stable and balanced world, Kissinger had persuaded President Sadat to begin peace negotiations with the Israelis. To Kissinger, the ruthless pragmatist, religious divisions and hatreds were irrelevant. The most important thing was to create a safer world. And in 1977, Sadat had flown to Jerusalem to start the peace process. To the West, it was a heroic act. But to the Islamists, it was a complete betrayal. It showed that Sadat’s mind had become so corrupted by the West that he was now completely under their control. And under the theories of Sayyed Qutb, this meant that he was no longer a Muslim, and so could justifiably be killed. And then, in 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini showed Zawahiri that his dream of creating an Islamist state was possible. [SUBTITLE OVER RIOT SCENE: God is great! ] VO: Khomeini had inspired an uprising against the Shah of Iran. The Shah was another leader who had allowed Western banks to corrupt his country. [SUBTITLE OVER RIOT SCENE: Armed struggle is the road to freedom!] VO: Khomeini had put forth the idea of an Islamist state [SUBTITLE OVER RIOT SCENE: Death to the Shah’s mercenary army!] VO: ... that was remarkably similar to Qutb’s ideas. He acknowledged this by placing Qutb’s face on one of the postage stamps of the new Islamic republic. In his first sermon, Khomeini addressed the West. “Yes,” he told them, “we are reactionaries, and you are enlightened intellectuals. You who want freedom for everything, the freedom that will corrupt our country, corrupt our youth, and freedom that will pave the way for the oppressor—freedom that would drag our country to the bottom.” REPORTER (off-camera): You sound very dissatisfied with what’s happening in Iran now. PRESIDENT SADAT 1979: Not MORE than dissatisfied, this is disgraceful! Really! I was myself; I was the Secretary-General of the Muslim Congress at one time. This, putting the name “Islamic revolution,” is a crime. A crime against Islam in the first hand. REPORTER: President Sadat, do you expect that the Shah will accept the invitation? It seems like a good solution right now. SADAT: Quote me: My aeroplane is ready to bring him here. Any moment. VO: At the end of 1980, Ayman Zawahiri, with a number of other followers of Qutb who had formed cells, came together. They created an organization they called Islamic Jihad. Its leader was a man called Abdel Salam Faraj. And Faraj argued that they should kill Sadat in a spectacular way that would shock the masses. It would make them see the true reality of the corruption surrounding them, and they would rise up and overthrow the régime. KAMAL HABIB, Founder member of Islamic Jihad (speaking in Arabic, subtitled): The jihadi movement – some of the leaders are still alive – I was one and so was Ayman Zawahiri. We spearheaded the jihadi state of mind rather than the earlier, more moderate ideas in the liberal era that simply accepted reality. Psychologically we thought we were superior to reality. We despised the everyday vision of the world, and we wanted to transform or change this reality. Therefore our dream was to get rid of Sadat. [SCENES OF SADAT ’ S ASSASSINATION] VO: Those who carried out the assassination were a group of Army officers who were a part of Islamic Jihad. They were immediately arrested, and the régime launched a massive manhunt for those behind the plot. But the effect of the assassination on the Egyptian people was not what Zawahiri had hoped for. That night, Cairo remained calm. The masses failed to rise up. And in the following weeks, Zawahiri and many other conspirators were arrested. The assassins were tried immediately and executed. But then, nearly 300 Islamists, including Zawahiri, were put on trial in a pavilion in Cairo’s industrial exhibition park. It was agreed that Zawahiri would be their spokesman. MAN IN CAGE, shouting: ... for [unintelligible], for the whole world, this is our world Doctor Ayman Zawahiri! AYMAN ZAWAHIRI, in cage, shouting: Now, we want to speak to the whole world! Who are we? Who are we? Why did they bring us here? And what we want to say? About the first question: we are Muslims! We are Muslims who believed in their religion, in their broad feelings, as both an ideology and practice. We believed in our religion, both as an ideology and practice. And hence, we tried our best to establish [unintelligible] Islamic state and Islamic society! PRISONER, shouting: La illah la-illallah! PRISONERS: La illah la-illallah! (etc.) GILLES KEPEL, Historian of Islamist Movement: Zawahiri, the man is an aristocrat. He comes from a major Egyptian -Saudi family. And he thinks that, you know, he is a visionary, and the means do not matter, just as in Lenin—I mean, revolution in one country or revolution worldwide. He was convinced that this was a means to mobilize the masses, that they had tried something, that it had not worked, then he failed that—you know, the masses that were still under the spell of ideology, the ideology of America. And he is looking for a new strategy. VO: At the trial, Zawahiri was sentenced to three years in prison, along with many others of Islamic Jihad. He was taken to cells behind the Police National Museum, where, like Sayyed Qutb, he was tortured. And under this torture, he began to interpret Qutb’s theories in a far more radical way. The mystery, for Zawahiri, was why the Egyptian people had failed to see the truth and rise up. It must be because the infection of selfish individualism had gone so deep into people’s minds that they were now as corrupted as their leaders. Zawahiri now seized on a terrible ambiguity in Qutb’s argument. It wasn’t just leaders like Sadat who were no longer real Muslims, it was the people themselves. And Zawahiri believed that this meant that they too could legitimately be killed. But such killing, Zawahiri believed, would have a noble purpose, because of the fear and the terror that it would create in the minds of ordinary Muslims. It would shock them into seeing reality in a different way. They would then see the truth. Dr AZZAM TAMIMI, Institute of Islamic Political Thought: Ayman Zawahiri came to the conclusion that because you have what you believe to be a sublime objective, then the means can be as ugly as they can get. You can kill as many people as you wish, because the end means is noble. The logic is that “we are the vanguards, we are the correct Muslims, everybody else is wrong. Not only wrong, but everybody else is not a Muslim, and the only means available to us today is just to kill our way to perfection.” [TITLE: AMERICA 1981] COUNTRY SINGER: I’m goin’ to a city where the roses never fade VO: And at this very same moment, religion was being mobilized politically in America, but for a very different purpose. And those encouraging this were the neoconservatives. Many neoconservatives had become advisers to the Presidential campaign of Ronald Reagan. And as they became more involved with the Republican Party, they had forged an alliance with the religious wing of the party, because it shared their aim of the moral regeneration of America. IRVING KRISTOL, Founder of Neoconservative movement: The notion that a purely secular society can cope with all of the terrible pathologies that now affect our society, I think has turned out to be false. And that has made me culturally conservative. I mean, I really think religion has a role now to play in redeeming the country. And liberalism is not prepared to give religion a role. Conservatism is, but it doesn’t know how to do it. VO: By the late ‘70s, there were millions of fundamentalist Christians in America. But their preachers had always told them not to vote. It would mean compromising with a doomed and immoral society. But the neoconservatives and their new Republican allies made an alliance with a number of powerful preachers, who told their followers to become involved with politics for the first time. JAMES ROBISON, Fundamentalist Preacher, 1980: I’m sick and tired of hearing about all of the radicals, and the perverts, and the liberals, and the leftists, and the Communists coming out of the closet! It’s time for God’s people to come out of the closet, out of the churches, and change America! We must do it! PAUL WEYRICH, Religious activist – Republican Party: The conservative movement, up to that point, was essentially an intellectual movement. It had some very powerful thinkers, but it didn’t have many troops. And as Stalin said of the Pope, “where are his divisions?”. Well, we didn’t have many divisions. When these folks became active, all of a sudden the conservative movement had lots of divisions. We were able to move literally millions of people. And this is something that we had literally no ability to do prior to that time. INTERVIEWER (off-camera): Literally millions? WEYRICH: Literally millions. VO: And at the beginning of 1981, Ronald Reagan took power in America. The religious vote was crucial in his election, because many millions of fundamentalists voted for the first time. And as they had hoped, many neoconservatives were given power in the new administration. Paul Wolfowitz became head of the State Department policy staff, while his close friend Richard Perle became the Assistant Secretary of Defense. And the head of Team B, Richard Pipes, became one of Reagan’s chief advisers. The neoconservatives believed that they now had the chance to implement their vision of America’s revolutionary destiny—to use the country’s power aggressively as a force for good in the world, in an epic battle to defeat the Soviet Union. It was a vision that they shared with millions of their new religious allies. UNIDENTIFIED PREACHER: I take a personal and public stand as a minister, a stand against Communism. To destroy it, to wipe it from the face of the Earth, because believe you me, these people are dedicated to the destruction of the United States of America and freedom, as we know it. VO: But the neoconservatives faced immense opposition to this new policy. It came not just from the bureaucracies and Congress, but also from the President himself. Reagan was convinced that the Soviet Union was an evil force, but he still believed that he could negotiate with them to end the Cold War. Professor RICHARD PIPES, Adviser to President Reagan 1980-83: Reagan at first didn’t quite understand that their aggressiveness is rooted in the system. He had a rather benign view of human beings. He was a very kindly man, and he attributed kind motives to others. There was another form of mirror imaging. And he would say on more than one occasion, something like this: “If I could just sit down with the Soviet leaders and explain to them that they’re following a wrong ideology, and if they adopt the right ideologies, they could make their people happy and prosperous.” So [unintelligible] “Mr. President, that is not going to do it! You have to go after the system. Force them to reform the system.” It took him a very long time to assimilate this view. VO: To persuade the President, the neoconservatives set out to prove that the Soviet threat was far greater than anyone, even Team B, had previously shown. They would demonstrate that the majority of terrorism and revolutionary movements around the world were actually part of a secret network, coordinated by Moscow, to take over the world. The main proponent of this theory was a leading neoconservative who was the special adviser to the Secretary of State. His name was Michael Ledeen, and he had been influenced by a best-selling book called The Terror Network. It alleged that terrorism was not the fragmented phenomenon that it appeared to be. In reality, all terrorist groups, from the PLO to the Baader-Meinhof group in Germany, and the Provisional IRA, all of them were a part of a coordinated strategy of terror run by the Soviet Union. But the CIA completely disagreed. They said this was just another neoconservative fantasy. MICHAEL LEDEEN, Special Adviser to the US Secretary of State 1981-1982: The CIA denied it. They tried to convince people that we were really crazy. I mean, they never believed that the Soviet Union was a driving force in the international terror network. They always wanted to believe that terrorist organizations were just what they said they were: local groups trying to avenge terrible evils done to them, or trying to rectify terrible social conditions, and things like that. And the CIA really did buy into the rhetoric. I don’t know what their motive was. I mean, I don’t know what people’s motives are, hardly ever. And I don’t much worry about motives. VO: But the neoconservatives had a powerful ally. He was William Casey, and he was the new head of the CIA. Casey was sympathetic to the neoconservative view. And when he read the Terror Network book, he was convinced. He called a meeting of the CIA’s Soviet analysts at their headquarters, and told them to produce a report for the President that proved this hidden network existed. But the analysts told him that this would be impossible, because much of the information in the book came from black propaganda the CIA themselves had invented to smear the Soviet Union. They knew that the terror network didn’t exist, because they themselves had made it up. MELVIN GOODMAN , Head of Soviet Affairs CIA, 1976-87: And when we looked through the book, we found very clear episodes where CIA black propaganda—clandestine information that was designed under a covert action plan to be planted in European newspapers—were picked up and put in this book. A lot of it was made up. It was made up out of whole cloth. INTERVIEWER (off-camera): You told him this? GOODMAN: We told him that, point blank. And we even had the operations people to tell Bill Casey this. I thought maybe this might have an impact, but all of us were dismissed. Casey had made up his mind. He knew the Soviets were involved in terrorism, so there was nothing we could tell him to disabuse him. Lies became reality. VO: In the end, Casey found a university professor who described himself as a terror expert, and he produced a dossier that confirmed that the hidden terror network did, in fact, exist. Under such intense lobbying, Reagan agreed to give the neoconservatives what they wanted, and in 1983 he signed a secret document that fundamentally changed American foreign policy. The country would now fund covert wars to push back the hidden Soviet threat around the world. President RONALD REAGAN: The specter of Marxist-Leninist controlled governments with ideological and political loyalties to the Soviet Union proves that there’s a direct challenge to which we must respond. They are the focus of evil in the modern world. VO: It was a triumph for the neoconservatives. America was now setting out to do battle against the forces of evil in the world. But what had started out, as the kind of myth that Leo Strauss had said was necessary for the American people increasingly came to be seen as the truth by the neoconservatives. They began to believe their own fiction. They had become what they called “democratic revolutionaries,” who were going to use force to change the world. LEDEEN: We were aiming for an expansion of the zone of freedom in the world. And in part that had to do with fighting Communism, and in part that had to do with fighting other kinds of tyrannies. But that’s what we were about, and that’s what we’re still about. INTERVIEWER (off-camera): When you say you were democratic revolutionaries, what do you mean? LEDEEN: It meant that we wanted to support the people who wanted to carry out revolutions against tyrannical régimes in the name of democracy, in order to install a democratic system. INTERVIEWER: As simple as that. LEDEEN: Yeah. It’s not nuclear physics, you know. I mean, freedom is a fairly simple thing to get. JAMES ARNESS on Gunsmoke (VO): It’s a chancy job—makes a man watchful and a little lonely. But somebody has to do it. VO: The neoconservatives now set out to transform the world. In next week’s episode, they find themselves joining forces with the Islamists in Afghanistan, and together they fight an epic battle against the Soviet Union. And both come to believe that they had defeated the Evil Empire. But this imagined victory would leave them without an enemy. And in a world disillusioned with grand political ideas, they would need to invent new fantasies and new nightmares, in order to maintain their power. [END CREDITS – MUSIC: “Baby It’s Cold Outside”] Go to Part 2 React! 1.Thanks a lot. My wife will translate into Russian if you don\’t mind, and we will provide a Subtitled russian version. — Iain Nov 1, 9:20pm # 2. Ne za chto! Samo soboi razumeetsja, chto avtorskie prava prinadlezhat ne mne, a BBC. No ya sam ne imeiu nikakikh vozrazhenii. — vaara Nov 1, 9:31pm # 3. You\’re a star - many thanks. I\’ll drink to you while reading these pages tonight! — ed Nov 6, 4:50pm # 4. http://silt3.com/index.php?id=574 Power of Nightmares baby its cold II — me Dec 17, 4:47pm # 5. WERE CAN I GET A COPY OT THE MOVIE — EDWARD CELLA Dec 30, 8:56pm # 6. I can’t but wonder what the good religious people in my world will do when they figure out they sold out to neocons and the liberals start looking benign again. — Tom Hilber Dec 31, 1:13pm # — Tom Hilber Dec 31, 1:13pm # --------------------------------- Discover Yahoo! Find restaurants, movies, travel & more fun for the weekend. Check it out! --------------------------------- Discover Yahoo! Have fun online with music videos, cool games, IM & more. Check it out! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050613/bdea788a/attachment.html From shivamvij at gmail.com Wed Jun 15 03:30:20 2005 From: shivamvij at gmail.com (shivam) Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2005 03:30:20 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Re: Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits In-Reply-To: <20050614210515.CE0AE28DED0@mail.sarai.net> References: <20050614210515.CE0AE28DED0@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: Srinivas wrote: "If the clay cup is a symbol of oppression ... they fail to mention that using clay cups exclusively for dalits is a custom found in some places." But their homepage says: "DFN has chosen the clay cup™ to be the symbol of the oppression of the Dalits. Throughout India, Dalits are forced to drink out of clay cups which then are destroyed in order to... " Well? From dev.gangjee at st-catherines.oxford.ac.uk Wed Jun 15 03:59:13 2005 From: dev.gangjee at st-catherines.oxford.ac.uk (Dev Gangjee) Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 23:29:13 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Commons-Law] more on clay cups In-Reply-To: <20050614210516.714BB28DEC2@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <20050614222913.642A31322B@webmail221.herald.ox.ac.uk> An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: not available Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050614/d7ecf988/attachment.pl From hbs.law at gmail.com Wed Jun 15 05:52:55 2005 From: hbs.law at gmail.com (Hasit seth) Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 20:22:55 -0400 Subject: [Commons-Law] Re: Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits (srinivas@southcentre.org) (Jayna Kothari) Message-ID: <8b60429e05061417227df18a18@mail.gmail.com> Hi Ravi and Jayna, Just to add my two naiya paisa stuff: 1. First, commercialisation of "Clay Cups": Keeping the IP aspect aside for a second, I understand Ravi's senitments behind a symbol of Dalit oppression being commercialised. However, it is not like a Nazi group promoting Nazi memorabilia. It is a pro-dalit organization asking for contributions for their work and giving a symbol of dalit oppression as a keepsake. It may be to remind the person and others about Dalit persecution which is towards a good goal. They state explicitly, "Use your cup as a reminder to pray for the Dalits!". More akin to a poster about oppression that reminds and educates people about the suffering. I do not think we can call this commercialisation at all because their use of clay cup is symbolic and contribution sought is for a cause. There are any number of non-profits selling their merchandise as means of collecting donations and/or spreading their message and have their name or their cause as a trademark (registered or not) - e.g., CRY (Child Relief and You) is a known Indian non-profit TM used for fund raising. 2. Second, the IP aspect: The USPTO database has two registrations for marks that include words "clay" and "cups". One, " CRYSTAL CUP SPORTING CLAYS CLASSIC" is given to AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION, INC. for charitable fund raising causes but is now abandoned. Second is " U.S. CUP SPORTING CLAYS CHAMPIONSHIP" for some sports stuff. Hence, the mark "Clay Cup" has no US federal trademark registration. The "TM" indicates common law mark ownership which the organization is claiming. It hardly indicates that they are capturing IP in it which somehow is used to profit from Dalit names. 3. Third, the misleading aspect: I don' t think the equation: Foreign Organization + Trademark + Indian Social Cause = Something Fishy, applies here. They are pointing out a case where clay cups have been used to discriminate against Dalits. They do say "Dalit Freedom Network has chosen the clay cup as a visual representation of the Dalits' brokenness and oppression." I understand the question "But what happens if Star Bucks applies for and gets a trade mark Coffee Cup or Plastic Cup." Jayna rightly said that you can get a TM registration for a word, phrase etc. Common words/phrases such as coffee cup or plastic cups are not distinctive enough to acquire trademark meaning by themselves. Such words in US acquire secondary meaning by sufficient use in trade, and even their registration would be very difficult without disclaiming the common and conflicting use of the word. TM law (India or US) does not work to allow people to appropriate common words which other traders would want to use to describe their goods/services. 4. Interesting analogous situation is use of Native American names by sporting teams in US. Here is a case note regarding use of "Redskin" as a team name and trademark. The Native Americans lost this case because of laches. Also, it is not a direct fit of a team using a Native American name but a term that was derogatory to them when registered as a TM. Note that 15 U.S.C. § 1064 prohibits registation of marks that "consists of or comprises matter which may disparage persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt or disrepute." Harjo v. Pro Football Inc., Canc. No. 21,069 (April 22, 1999), 50 U.S.P.Q.2d 1705, 1999 WL 375907 (P.T.O. 1999), rev'd by Pro-Football, Inc. v. Harjo, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17180, 68 U.S. P.Q.2d 1225 (D.D.C. 2003), the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board cancelled the registration for the "Redskins" trademark on the ground that federal law prohibited trademark registration for any mark if it "consists of or comprises matter which may disparage persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt or disrepute." 15 U.S.C. § 1064. That decision was reversed by the D.C. district court on the ground that plaintiffs had not carried their burden of proof in showing that the term "redskin" would have been viewed as disparaging by a substantial majority of American Indians when the mark was registered in 1967. Pro-Football, Inc. v. Harjo, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17180, 68 U.S. P.Q.2d 1225 (D.D.C. 2003). (Source: http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/jsinger/developments/redskins.php) Regards, Hasit > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 15:55:43 +0200 > From: srinivas at southcentre.org > Subject: Re: [Commons-Law] Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits > To: "Jayna Kothari" > Cc: commons-law at sarai.net > Message-ID: > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Dear Jayna > I know that.But my question is why should there be a trade mark on Clay > Cup in the > first place. I can understand if Star Bucks develops a design for cup and > gets IP > rights over it. But what happens if Star Bucks applies for and gets a > trade mark > Coffee Cup or Plastic Cup. In this case they are using the name of the > dalits for > this purpose. And as pointed out their claim about clay cups is not true. > cheers > ravi > K.Ravi Srinivas > Post Doctoral Fellow > IPR Policy Research & > Development Program > South Centre > 17-19 Chemin Du Champ d'Anier > 1209 Petit Saconnex > Geneva > Switzerland > > Postal Address > > K.Ravi Srinivas > South Centre > CP 228 > 1211 Geneva 19 > Switzerland > > Tel: +41 22 791 81 67 > Fax: +41 22 798 85 31 > > email: srinivas at southcentre.org > > > > "Jayna Kothari" > 14.06.2005 15:26 > > To > srinivas at southcentre.org > cc > commons-law at sarai.net > Subject > Re: [Commons-Law] Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits > > Dear Ravi, > > I checked out the website about the clay cups used by > dalit Network.org as I was quite curious. The website > shows that it is only the phrase 'Clay Cup' for which a > trademark application is made, since the 'TM' symbol is > shown. In any case, only a word, symbol, sign, shape > etc can be protected through a trademark and not the > cup made of clay itself. > > cheers, > Jayna > From tahir.amin at btopenworld.com Wed Jun 15 12:08:51 2005 From: tahir.amin at btopenworld.com (TAHIR AMIN) Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2005 07:38:51 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Commons-Law] Re: Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits (srinivas@southcentre.org) (Jayna Kothari) In-Reply-To: <8b60429e05061417227df18a18@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20050615063851.59781.qmail@web86110.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Dear Hasit, Ravi, Dev, Jayna Just a minor addition to the debate -- the description used by Dalit Freedom Network (DFN) on its website, "DFN has chosen the clay cup (TM)" is incorrect and make no legitmate claim/right over the words 'clay cup'. It should read "DFN has chosen the "Dalit Network.org and Clay Cup Design (TM)", so as to mirror what they have applied for the USPTO. As Dev rightly said, their application is for a word and design (device if you use the UK/Commonwealth terminology) and so sticking (TM) after the words 'clay cup' doesnt even give them any right over the term, aside from the fact the word clay cup is not registrable for cups/crockery etc per se, no matter what the acquired distinctiveness. Just thinking up an unlikely case, I wonder what the reaction from DFN would be if a group like International Dalit Solidarity Network (www.idsn) started putting 'DalitSolidarityNetwork' on clay cups and applied for a similar mark in the U.S. Being charitable/NGO's fighting a similar cause Im sure they would accomodate each other to avoid bad PR, but would DFN claim confusion because of its trade mark? Cheers Tahir Hasit seth wrote: Hi Ravi and Jayna, Just to add my two naiya paisa stuff: 1. First, commercialisation of "Clay Cups": Keeping the IP aspect aside for a second, I understand Ravi's senitments behind a symbol of Dalit oppression being commercialised. However, it is not like a Nazi group promoting Nazi memorabilia. It is a pro-dalit organization asking for contributions for their work and giving a symbol of dalit oppression as a keepsake. It may be to remind the person and others about Dalit persecution which is towards a good goal. They state explicitly, "Use your cup as a reminder to pray for the Dalits!". More akin to a poster about oppression that reminds and educates people about the suffering. I do not think we can call this commercialisation at all because their use of clay cup is symbolic and contribution sought is for a cause. There are any number of non-profits selling their merchandise as means of collecting donations and/or spreading their message and have their name or their cause as a trademark (registered or not) - e.g., CRY (Child Relief and You) is a known Indian non-profit TM used for fund raising. 2. Second, the IP aspect: The USPTO database has two registrations for marks that include words "clay" and "cups". One, " CRYSTAL CUP SPORTING CLAYS CLASSIC" is given to AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION, INC. for charitable fund raising causes but is now abandoned. Second is " U.S. CUP SPORTING CLAYS CHAMPIONSHIP" for some sports stuff. Hence, the mark "Clay Cup" has no US federal trademark registration. The "TM" indicates common law mark ownership which the organization is claiming. It hardly indicates that they are capturing IP in it which somehow is used to profit from Dalit names. 3. Third, the misleading aspect: I don' t think the equation: Foreign Organization + Trademark + Indian Social Cause = Something Fishy, applies here. They are pointing out a case where clay cups have been used to discriminate against Dalits. They do say "Dalit Freedom Network has chosen the clay cup as a visual representation of the Dalits' brokenness and oppression." I understand the question "But what happens if Star Bucks applies for and gets a trade mark Coffee Cup or Plastic Cup." Jayna rightly said that you can get a TM registration for a word, phrase etc. Common words/phrases such as coffee cup or plastic cups are not distinctive enough to acquire trademark meaning by themselves. Such words in US acquire secondary meaning by sufficient use in trade, and even their registration would be very difficult without disclaiming the common and conflicting use of the word. TM law (India or US) does not work to allow people to appropriate common words which other traders would want to use to describe their goods/services. 4. Interesting analogous situation is use of Native American names by sporting teams in US. Here is a case note regarding use of "Redskin" as a team name and trademark. The Native Americans lost this case because of laches. Also, it is not a direct fit of a team using a Native American name but a term that was derogatory to them when registered as a TM. Note that 15 U.S.C. § 1064 prohibits registation of marks that "consists of or comprises matter which may disparage persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt or disrepute." Harjo v. Pro Football Inc., Canc. No. 21,069 (April 22, 1999), 50 U.S.P.Q.2d 1705, 1999 WL 375907 (P.T.O. 1999), rev'd by Pro-Football, Inc. v. Harjo, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17180, 68 U.S. P.Q.2d 1225 (D.D.C. 2003), the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board cancelled the registration for the "Redskins" trademark on the ground that federal law prohibited trademark registration for any mark if it "consists of or comprises matter which may disparage persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt or disrepute." 15 U.S.C. § 1064. That decision was reversed by the D.C. district court on the ground that plaintiffs had not carried their burden of proof in showing that the term "redskin" would have been viewed as disparaging by a substantial majority of American Indians when the mark was registered in 1967. Pro-Football, Inc. v. Harjo, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17180, 68 U.S. P.Q.2d 1225 (D.D.C. 2003). (Source: http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/jsinger/developments/redskins.php) Regards, Hasit > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 15:55:43 +0200 > From: srinivas at southcentre.org > Subject: Re: [Commons-Law] Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits > To: "Jayna Kothari" > Cc: commons-law at sarai.net > Message-ID: > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Dear Jayna > I know that.But my question is why should there be a trade mark on Clay > Cup in the > first place. I can understand if Star Bucks develops a design for cup and > gets IP > rights over it. But what happens if Star Bucks applies for and gets a > trade mark > Coffee Cup or Plastic Cup. In this case they are using the name of the > dalits for > this purpose. And as pointed out their claim about clay cups is not true. > cheers > ravi > K.Ravi Srinivas > Post Doctoral Fellow > IPR Policy Research & > Development Program > South Centre > 17-19 Chemin Du Champ d'Anier > 1209 Petit Saconnex > Geneva > Switzerland > > Postal Address > > K.Ravi Srinivas > South Centre > CP 228 > 1211 Geneva 19 > Switzerland > > Tel: +41 22 791 81 67 > Fax: +41 22 798 85 31 > > email: srinivas at southcentre.org > > > > "Jayna Kothari" > 14.06.2005 15:26 > > To > srinivas at southcentre.org > cc > commons-law at sarai.net > Subject > Re: [Commons-Law] Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits > > Dear Ravi, > > I checked out the website about the clay cups used by > dalit Network.org as I was quite curious. The website > shows that it is only the phrase 'Clay Cup' for which a > trademark application is made, since the 'TM' symbol is > shown. In any case, only a word, symbol, sign, shape > etc can be protected through a trademark and not the > cup made of clay itself. > > cheers, > Jayna > _______________________________________________ commons-law mailing list commons-law at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/commons-law --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger NEW - crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with voicemail -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050615/86ebd453/attachment.html From patrice at xs4all.nl Wed Jun 15 13:59:29 2005 From: patrice at xs4all.nl (Patrice Riemens) Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2005 10:29:29 +0200 Subject: [Commons-Law] Re: Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits In-Reply-To: References: <20050614210515.CE0AE28DED0@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <20050615082929.GG72357@xs4all.nl> Is Railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav a Dalit? (just curious) ;-) cheers, patrizio & Diiiinoooos! (keep clay cups at home - as souvenirs) From the.solipsist at gmail.com Wed Jun 15 18:24:53 2005 From: the.solipsist at gmail.com (sol) Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2005 18:24:53 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] OpenSolaris kernel released under CDDL Message-ID: <4785f1e20506150554228036b9@mail.gmail.com> Dear All, To compete with HP and IBM, Sun Microsystems has released the source code for the kernel of its OpenSolaris along with many network components under the CDDL (Common Development and Distribution License) which Sun cooked up and the approval for which was granted by the OSI in January this year. (The CDDL is based on the Mozilla Public License v1.1 (MPL) and incorporates a few welcome changes.) This means more than half the OS is now open source. Over the next six months, Sun plans to release the entire OS in a phased manner. Sun claims that this would make it the largest contributor to open-source code world-wide. >From The Register : Sun coughs up an OpenSolaris kernel By Ashlee Vance in Chicago Published Tuesday 14th June 2005 22:11 GMT The Sun Microsystems OpenSolaris endurance test reached a critical stage today, as the operating system's kernel and networking stack were turned over to developers. Solaris fans can now examine and play with more than 5m lines of code - mostly the stuff at the heart of the OS. This code dump follows the release in January of the highly-regarded DTrace tool for improving system performance under Sun's Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL). The new code, also released under the CDDL, is now available on the OpenSolaris web site . [image: Click Here] "This, as you can imagine, is a very big day for us at Sun Microsystems and particularly so for those of us in the Solaris community," said Sun VP Tom Goguen, during a conference call. This exciting day has been a longtime coming. Sun first introduced the idea of an open source version of Solaris way back in 2000 and then waffled back and forth over the next couple of years as to how good of an idea such a product would be. Then, last year almost to the day, Sun's president Jonathan Schwartz confirmed that Sun would indeed go the open source route in some way, shape or form. Since Schwartz made that pronouncement, Sun executives have said again and again that the company "has open sourced Solaris" even though it still really hasn't. The 5m lines of code released today do contain the key kernel and networking components, but they make up just half of the OS's total code, which includes a number of packages already under open source licenses. Over the next six months, Sun plans to release more networking tools, storage drivers, developer tools, test suites and compilers. A detailed roadmap is available here . Sun keeps saying that OpenSolaris is not a ploy to get free development work done on Solaris and that it's not a response to Red Hat. This has left many wondering exactly what question the OS answers. The whole OpenSolaris effort is an obvious attempt by Sun to keep interest high in its operating system by breathing new life into software. Sun's immediate future hinges on maintaining as many Solaris/Sparc customers as possible, while its long-term goals will be best served by new users picking up Solaris over Linux and Windows on x86 systems. For that to happen, Sun needs an open, strong developer community that takes pride or at least has interest in the OS. To its credit, Sun has been far more, well, open with regard to OpenSolaris than many once expected. Pundits imagined Sun would let developers peek at the Solaris code and send work back to the company but not really give them many other freedoms. That, however, hasn't been the case as CDDL is a decently liberal license, especially for a company that bases its existence on R&D. There are many Sun/Unix supporters who would love to see OpenSolaris take off and become a major force in the x86 server market. Sun proponents argue that Solaris is a much more mature, higher-end operating system than Linux. The length of time needed for Sun to roll out a substantial chunk of Solaris under CDDL proves that large companies just can't turn on a dime - no matter how much they'd like to. At the same time, it proves companies can turn. Sun needs a lift right now and OpenSolaris could well fuel part of a larger morale and revenue boost. (r) Cheers, Pranesh -- ______________ ------------ We are unhappy married, and unhappy unmarried. We are unhappy when alone, and unhappy in society: we are like hedge-hogs clustering together for warmth, uncomfortable when too closely packed, and yet miserable when kept apart. It is all very funny... the life of every individual is really always a tragedy; but gone through it in detail it has the character of a comedy. --Arthur Schopenhauer [1788 - 1860], German philosopher ------------ ______________ ô¿ô¬ the solipsist -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050615/ff9bb211/attachment.html From shivamvij at gmail.com Wed Jun 15 21:30:23 2005 From: shivamvij at gmail.com (shivam) Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2005 21:30:23 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Re: Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits In-Reply-To: <20050615082929.GG72357@xs4all.nl> References: <20050614210515.CE0AE28DED0@mail.sarai.net> <20050615082929.GG72357@xs4all.nl> Message-ID: He's not. He's in the category of "Other Backward Castes" or OBC's. They are the 'middle' castes and are known to be in conflict - politically, socially, violently - with Dalits. The classical story-bok Brahmin-Dalit conflict is not the dominant discourse. This is why Mulayam Singh and Mayawati are rivals despite both of them being opponents of the casteism. shivam On 6/15/05, Patrice Riemens wrote: > Is Railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav a Dalit? (just curious) > ;-) > cheers, patrizio & Diiiinoooos! (keep clay cups at home - as souvenirs) > -- I poured reason in two wine glasses Raised one above my head And poured in into my life (-JD) www.shivamvij.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050615/b50105e6/attachment.html From hbs.law at gmail.com Thu Jun 16 01:33:19 2005 From: hbs.law at gmail.com (Hasit seth) Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2005 16:03:19 -0400 Subject: [Commons-Law] Ban on Showing Smoking in Films... Message-ID: <8b60429e0506151303334e5a@mail.gmail.com> Hi All, This news item shows why Freedom of Speech is almost an illusion in India, in theory and in practice for the executive branch of the government. Nobody can dispute the health dangers of smoking. It is bad, in short. Government does not seek to ban smoking itself or in specific areas but rather the portrayal of smoking in films. Such a decision in a country which has a constitutional freedom of speech guarantee should have presented problems for the government. No such problem here! This isn't some obscure book being banned but is wholesale content regulation through government censorship over the most popular media of films. Even if this ban can be fitted into one of the exceptions to the constitutional freedom of speech it is completely bizarre. There will be demands tomorrow to ban all kinds of "social evils" in media if this ban goes through. Some of these "Social Evils" will be passing moral fashions of the current generations. Yet this presents no problem for the government functioning under a constitution. We are slowly inching in India towards a classic state where "Everything is prohibited unless specifically permitted" (Quote comes an excellent book on Evidence by a learned writer Vepa P. Sarathi). The news item does not mention any "narrowly tailored" ban that is limited to films that glorify smoking or are basically smoking advertisement films, we are talking regular fictional feature films. Almost bordering on funny (if it wasn't a serious matter) is "The government's earlier ban on smoking was to apply to older films as well." That means retrospective censoring of movies made in last fifty years or even earlier. Only feature of this scheme worth appreciating is ban on surrogate advertising by tobacco manufacturers. But there is no word on surrogate ban on alcohol advertisement (e.g., Kingfisher Airlines) which is not allowed to be advertised directly (at least that was my last known impression). Regards, Hasit ========================================================= Films made after Oct 2 face smoking ban NDTV Correspondent Wednesday, June 15, 2005 (New Delhi): The Union Health Ministry and the Information Broadcasting Ministry have reached a consensus on the implementation of the ban on smoking in films. "We have reached a complete understanding about the manner in which we should go about," Information and Broadcasting Minister Jaipal Reddy said after meeting health minister A Ramadoss. Diluting the government's earlier order, the ban on images portraying smoking will now be applicable only on films made after October 2 this year. The government's earlier ban on smoking was to apply to older films as well. 'Ban to be fully enforced' However, films that show an historical era or a historical personality smoking, will be exempt from the ban. "In regard to new films, there should be a ban subject to some rare situations such as treatment of a historical personality, treatment of a historical period and social messaging against smoking itself. Otherwise the ban will be fully enforced," said Jaipal Reddy, I&B Minister. But smoking will be banned in all new television serials. Older films and television serials, which depict smoking scenes, will have to run a scroll conveying a statutory warning on the harmful effects of smoking. Today's ban will also have an effect on surrogate brands. For instance, ITC which manufacturers cigarettes also sponsors golf tournaments or Red & White which sponsors bravery awards. Now an inter-ministerial committee will decide whether these can continue on a case to case basis. On May 31, Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss had announced new curbs on the portrayal of smoking in films citing a WHO report that youngsters were being influenced by images of smoking in films. In India, an estimated eight lakh people die of tobacco-related diseases every year. For the latest in news visit http://www.ndtv.com (c) 2004 NDTV. All rights reserved. ==================================================================== From vasumank at yahoo.com Thu Jun 16 03:38:06 2005 From: vasumank at yahoo.com (Vasuman Khandelwal) Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2005 15:08:06 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Fwd: [Commons-Law] Ban on Showing Smoking in Films... Message-ID: <20050615220806.4545.qmail@web50908.mail.yahoo.com> Interesting thoughts and in complete agreement. But how about then Sati (Prevention) Act- surely the act of sati can also be bought into the relam of freedom of speech & _expression? When does govt. acquire legitimate interest in proscribing an activity/_expression? I The smoking ban is certainly not about censorship, its about giving a warning to the public. Cheers Vasuman --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Make Yahoo! your home page -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050615/88e4c917/attachment.html From hbs.law at gmail.com Thu Jun 16 04:12:11 2005 From: hbs.law at gmail.com (Hasit seth) Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2005 18:42:11 -0400 Subject: [Commons-Law] Ban on Showing Smoking in Films...(Hasit) (Vasuman Khandelwal) In-Reply-To: <20050615220654.4314.qmail@web50908.mail.yahoo.com> References: <8b60429e0506151303334e5a@mail.gmail.com> <20050615220654.4314.qmail@web50908.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <8b60429e05061515421388425a@mail.gmail.com> Hi Vasuman, The smoking ban as reported is a broad content regulation measure since it censors a certain content of speech, namely expression of smoking in films. Even if a ground of public health is assumed, the relation between showing of smoking in films (cause) and public being encouraged to smoke (effect) would be tenuous at best since feature films are fictional stories unlike say a targeted smoking advertisement film. You have a valid view point that "The smoking ban is certainly not about censorship, its about giving a warning to the public.". But, this warning aspect is limited to older films (pre Oct. 2) which will have to a carry a warning. The prospective ban on showing smoking in films is a complete censorship measure. Let me combine your other points to think about them: shouldn't showing of "sati" practice in film be banned (assuming it glorifies it)? and when "When does govt. acquire legitimate interest in proscribing an activity/expression? " Basic premise should be to not even go near content regulation at all and then develop extremely narrow exceptions if justified on some again very limited grounds. This restrictive mode of content regulation is the only way to avoid waves of content regulation demands. Banning glorification of sati on film can be justified since it is a narrowly tailored (to borrow American free speech lingo) ban to remove an age old curse. Hence, content regulation seems justifiable. Content regulation in films will be messy and restrict creative expression something that FoS seeks to protect and encourage. Smoking, though a vast public health issue, is a fact of life and hence its depiction in films is normal. Content regulation will open up any number of demands based on religious, moral, social, historical, economic and what not grounds. Hence, I feel content regulation of speech should follow a "rarest of rare" approach rather than "looks bad, let's ban it" approach of the executive in this case. Pranam/Regards, Hasit Seth On 6/15/05, Vasuman Khandelwal wrote: > Interesting thoughts and in complete agreement. But how about then Sati > (Prevention) Act- surely the act of sati can also be bought into the relam > of freedom of speech & expression? When does govt. acquire legitimate > interest in proscribing an activity/expression? > I > The smoking ban is certainly not about censorship, its about giving a > warning to the public. > > Cheers > Vasuman > > Hasit seth wrote: > Hi All, > > This news item shows why Freedom of Speech is almost an illusion in > India, in theory and in practice for the executive branch of the > government. > > Nobody can dispute the health dangers of smoking. It is bad, in > short. Government does not seek to ban smoking itself or in specific > areas but rather the portrayal of smoking in films. Such a decision > in a country which has a constitutional freedom of speech guarantee > should have presented problems for the government. No such problem > here! This isn't some obscure book being banned but is wholesale > content regulation through government censorship over the most popular > media of films. > > Even if this ban can be fitted into one of the exceptions to the > constitutional freedom of speech it is completely bizarre. There will > be demands tomorrow to ban all kinds of "social evils" in media if > this ban goes through. Some of these "Social Evils" will be passing > moral fashions of the current generations. Yet this presents no > problem for the government functioning under a constitution. We are > slowly inching in India towards a classic state where "Everything is > prohibited unless specifically permitted" (Quote comes an excellent > book on Evidence by a learned writer Vepa P. Sarathi). The news item > does not mention any "narrowly tailored" ban that is limited to films > that glorify smoking or are basically smoking advertisement films, we > are talking regular fictional feature films. > > Almost bordering on funny (if it wasn't a serious matter) is "The > government's earlier ban on smoking was to apply to older films as > well." That means retrospective censoring of movies made in last > fifty years or even earlier. Only feature of this scheme worth > appreciating is ban on surrogate advertising by tobacco manufacturers. > But there is no word on surrogate ban on alcohol advertisement (e.g., > Kingfisher Airlines) which is not allowed to be advertised directly > (at least that was my last known impression). > > Regards, > Hasit > > > ________________________________ > Discover Yahoo! > Get on-the-go sports scores, stock quotes, news & more. Check it out! > > From vasumank at yahoo.com Thu Jun 16 06:21:30 2005 From: vasumank at yahoo.com (Vasuman Khandelwal) Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2005 17:51:30 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Fwd: Re: [Commons-Law] Ban on Showing Smoking in Films...(Hasit) (Vasuman Khandelwal) Message-ID: <20050616005130.47217.qmail@web50908.mail.yahoo.com> Dear hasit, The comment about sati was not in context of film. The sati act, as passed by parliament bans the practice of sati and glorification of it. Recently, there was a controversy Rajasthan where a housing apartment was named after a sati godess and a minister almost inagurated the event. The next part of this controversy was when a tourism guide published by Rajasthan govt. was allegedly glorifying sati by highlighting sati godess again. The charge then was that it went against the letter and spirit of the Sati Prevention act. I dare say, Couts would have been in a piquant situation had the govt. of rajasthan taken the defence of freedom of speech and expression. Whatever the perceptions of sati be prevailing in ellite section of society, glorificationof it sqarely falls into FOSE. The next set of question's then naturally arise, is 'falg burning' FOSE, is 'topless dancing' FOSE, so on and so forth. Australian HC has made it amply clear that this freedom only extends to 'political speech' and not other areas. But even then, its difficult to say what amounts to political speech. Bandhs have been proscribed by Kerela and Calcutta HC, and its opinions were endorsed by SC also though in a very perfunctory manner. I think govt. has a legitimate interest in protection of health of people by giving adequate warning by scroll message when smoking scenes are shown on television. This is without prejudice to the content of the telecast. I reiterate that the scroll messages are warning to the people. The Ministry of I&B justified their measure of only banning prospective films beacuse of technical difficulties in putting such warnings in old films. Though i must add that i am quite sceptical, if it will have any effect of reducing prevalence of smoking. In UK, this debate is about 'Fast food'. Tony Blair in his speech to House of Commons in response to this debate said that govt. cannot be in bussiness of tutoring people what to do and what not to do. Though recently there has been a law passed here about banning smoking in Pubs and restaurants. Best Regards, Vasuman Hasit seth wrote: Hi Vasuman, The smoking ban as reported is a broad content regulation measure since it censors a certain content of speech, namely expression of smoking in films. Even if a ground of public health is assumed, the relation between showing of smoking in films (cause) and public being encouraged to smoke (effect) would be tenuous at best since feature films are fictional stories unlike say a targeted smoking advertisement film. You have a valid view point that "The smoking ban is certainly not about censorship, its about giving a warning to the public.". But, this warning aspect is limited to older films (pre Oct. 2) which will have to a carry a warning. The prospective ban on showing smoking in films is a complete censorship measure. Let me combine your other points to think about them: shouldn't showing of "sati" practice in film be banned (assuming it glorifies it)? and when "When does govt. acquire legitimate interest in proscribing an activity/expression? " Basic premise should be to not even go near content regulation at all and then develop extremely narrow exceptions if justified on some again very limited grounds. This restrictive mode of content regulation is the only way to avoid waves of content regulation demands. Banning glorification of sati on film can be justified since it is a narrowly tailored (to borrow American free speech lingo) ban to remove an age old curse. Hence, content regulation seems justifiable. Content regulation in films will be messy and restrict creative expression something that FoS seeks to protect and encourage. Smoking, though a vast public health issue, is a fact of life and hence its depiction in films is normal. Content regulation will open up any number of demands based on religious, moral, social, historical, economic and what not grounds. Hence, I feel content regulation of speech should follow a "rarest of rare" approach rather than "looks bad, let's ban it" approach of the executive in this case. Pranam/Regards, Hasit Seth On 6/15/05, Vasuman Khandelwal wrote: > Interesting thoughts and in complete agreement. But how about then Sati > (Prevention) Act- surely the act of sati can also be bought into the relam > of freedom of speech & expression? When does govt. acquire legitimate > interest in proscribing an activity/expression? > I > The smoking ban is certainly not about censorship, its about giving a > warning to the public. > > Cheers > Vasuman > > Hasit seth wrote: > Hi All, > > This news item shows why Freedom of Speech is almost an illusion in > India, in theory and in practice for the executive branch of the > government. > > Nobody can dispute the health dangers of smoking. It is bad, in > short. Government does not seek to ban smoking itself or in specific > areas but rather the portrayal of smoking in films. Such a decision > in a country which has a constitutional freedom of speech guarantee > should have presented problems for the government. No such problem > here! This isn't some obscure book being banned but is wholesale > content regulation through government censorship over the most popular > media of films. > > Even if this ban can be fitted into one of the exceptions to the > constitutional freedom of speech it is completely bizarre. There will > be demands tomorrow to ban all kinds of "social evils" in media if > this ban goes through. Some of these "Social Evils" will be passing > moral fashions of the current generations. Yet this presents no > problem for the government functioning under a constitution. We are > slowly inching in India towards a classic state where "Everything is > prohibited unless specifically permitted" (Quote comes an excellent > book on Evidence by a learned writer Vepa P. Sarathi). The news item > does not mention any "narrowly tailored" ban that is limited to films > that glorify smoking or are basically smoking advertisement films, we > are talking regular fictional feature films. > > Almost bordering on funny (if it wasn't a serious matter) is "The > government's earlier ban on smoking was to apply to older films as > well." That means retrospective censoring of movies made in last > fifty years or even earlier. Only feature of this scheme worth > appreciating is ban on surrogate advertising by tobacco manufacturers. > But there is no word on surrogate ban on alcohol advertisement (e.g., > Kingfisher Airlines) which is not allowed to be advertised directly > (at least that was my last known impression). > > Regards, > Hasit > > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050615/808bb519/attachment.html From tahir.amin at btopenworld.com Thu Jun 16 10:41:54 2005 From: tahir.amin at btopenworld.com (TAHIR AMIN) Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2005 06:11:54 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Commons-Law] Fwd: ITPC USA: Justices Expand Rights to Experiment With Patented Drugs Message-ID: <20050616051154.17571.qmail@web86107.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> USA: Justices Expand Rights to Experiment With Patented Drugs http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/14/business/14bizcourt.html By ANDREW POLLACK Published: June 14, 2005 The Supreme Court gave pharmaceutical companies broad latitude yesterday to study and experiment with drugs covered by other companies' patents, a decision that may help speed the development of medical treatments. The decision means drug companies can do much of the laboratory, animal and human testing needed to win approval of a drug even if the drug would infringe on the patent on another product. However, the new drug could not be sold until the patent on the other drug expired. Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for a unanimous court, said that an existing exemption from patent infringement "provides a wide berth for the use of patented drugs" in developing other pharmaceuticals. The decision reversed a federal appeals court ruling that the exemption should be interpreted narrowly. E. Joshua Rosenkranz, the lawyer who argued for the victorious side, said the ruling gave drug companies a head start on developing medicines to be ready to sell as soon as the patents on other drugs expired. "It gave enormous latitude to conduct the testing necessary to bring therapies to needy patients," Mr. Rosenkranz, who is with the Heller Ehrman law firm in New York, said in an interview. Sarah Lenz Lock, a lawyer for AARP, a consumer group representing older Americans, also praised the decision, saying it would "speed new drugs to market and lower costs of drugs to consumers." The case pitted Integra LifeSci-ences, a New Jersey company that had patented a class of compounds, against Merck of Germany, which had paid for a scientist to test some of the compounds for potential use as drugs. Integra sued Merck in 1996. A jury ruled in 2000 that Merck had infringed on Integra's patents and ordered Merck to pay $15 million, which was later reduced to $6.4 million. The appeals court also sided with Integra. But the Supreme Court ruled for Merck, which is not related to the American drug company of the same name. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the appeals court for reconsideration in light of the new ruling. Mauricio A. Flores, a lawyer representing Integra, said the Supreme Court decision mainly reversed an interpretation of the law by a lower court but did not deal with the specific evidence in this case. He said Integra was still confident that the jury verdict that Merck had infringed would still be upheld. "This case isn't over," he said. "We live to fight another day." Mr. Rosenkranz, representing Merck, said the company expected to prevail. "The Supreme Court pulled every one of the props out from under Integra's position," he said. The closely watched case had split the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Many big pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies submitted briefs on the side of Merck, saying that a narrow interpretation of the exemption from patent infringement would slow drug development. The drug companies were joined in their argument by the Justice Department and by some consumer groups that often find themselves on the opposite side of issues from the pharmaceutical industry. Backing Integra were many biotechnology companies that make patented equipment and chemicals used in drug research, as well as some universities, which often invent new research techniques. They argued that granting a broad exemption from patent infringement would basically put them out of business since their products, which include sophisticated chemical testing machines and enzymes that manipulate genes and proteins, have little use outside of drug research. Some lawyers for these companies also said it was hypocritical of drug companies, which constantly assert the importance of strong patent protection in spurring innovation, to argue that they should be permitted to infringe upon patents held by others. The Supreme Court said in a footnote that this case was about research using patented drugs themselves, not about tools used to study those drugs. Therefore, it did not address whether drug companies could use research tools without worrying about patents. "Research tools were not at issue and this decision isn't a license for people to infringe research tool patents," said Edward R. Reines, who filed a brief on behalf of two tool makers, Applera and Isis Pharmaceuticals. Robert W. Esmond, a Washington lawyer whose firm filed a brief on behalf of another research tool maker, Vaccinex, said the decision "leads to uncertainty over whether or not those patents are enforceable." The case revolves around a clause in the Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984, which set the ground rules for generic drugs. To enable generic drugs to reach the market as soon as the patent on the branded drug expired, the act permitted generic companies to make and test their drugs while the patent was still in force. The clause permits drug companies to infringe on patents "solely for uses reasonably related to the development and submission of information" to the Food and Drug Administration. But it is not specifically restricted to generic drugs, so there have been questions about how far it extends. The appeals court that handles patent cases ruled in 2003 that the exemption should be very narrow, covering, in effect, clinical trials but not earlier work like test-tube experiments to determine which of several compounds might be the best drug candidate. But the Supreme Court ruled that the exemption applied to more than clinical trials. "There is simply no room in the statute for excluding certain information from the exemption on the basis of the phase of research in which it is developed," Justice Scalia wrote in the 15-page decision. He also wrote that the law "leaves adequate space for experimentation and failure on the road to regulatory approval," so that work on compounds that do not move forward into clinical trials can still be protected from infringement. Still, the court said that basic scientific research on a compound, performed without intent to develop a drug, would not be covered. Some lawyers said that questions of what is covered may still have to be decided case by case. Sometimes, the distinction between a research tool and a drug compound, for instance, cannot easily be made. "They are saying that this exemption goes only so far upstream," said Stephen B. Maebius, a patent lawyer at Foley & Lardner in Washington who represents pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies but was not involved in this case. In the 1980's, a class of peptides, or small proteins, was discovered by scientists at the Burnham Institute in San Diego. Integra later obtained the patent rights to the peptides. In 1994, David Cheresh, a scientist at the Scripps Research Institute, across the street from Burnham, discovered that a particular protein was involved in building blood vessels. So a compound that blocks the protein might be useful in blocking the blood supply to tumors. It turned out that peptides similar to those discovered at Burnham did that. Merck paid Dr. Cheresh to test some of them and one is now in clinical trials to treat cancer. The patent on the peptides is expected to expire before that drug comes to market. --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger NEW - crystal clear PC to PCcalling worldwide with voicemail -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050616/aa24e62e/attachment.html From auskadi at gmail.com Thu Jun 16 11:46:47 2005 From: auskadi at gmail.com (martin hardie) Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2005 08:16:47 +0200 Subject: [Commons-Law] Fwd: ITPC USA: Justices Expand Rights to Experiment With Patented Drugs In-Reply-To: <20050616051154.17571.qmail@web86107.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> References: <20050616051154.17571.qmail@web86107.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <9959950b05061523165edc397b@mail.gmail.com> http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/13jun20051230/www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/04pdf/03-1237.pdf On 6/16/05, TAHIR AMIN wrote: > > > > > USA: Justices Expand Rights to Experiment With Patented Drugs > http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/14/business/14bizcourt.html > > By ANDREW POLLACK > Published: June 14, 2005 > The Supreme Court gave pharmaceutical companies broad latitude > yesterday to > study and experiment with drugs covered by other companies' patents, a > decision that may help speed the development of medical treatments. > > The decision means drug companies can do much of the laboratory, > animal and > human testing needed to win approval of a drug even if the drug would > infringe on the patent on another product. However, the new drug could > not > be sold until the patent on the other drug expired. > > Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for a unanimous court, said that an > existing > exemption from patent infringement "provides a wide berth for the use > of > patented drugs" in developing other pharmaceuticals. > > The decision reversed a federal appeals court ruling that the > exemption > should be interpreted narrowly. > > E. Joshua Rosenkranz, the lawyer who argued for the victorious side, > said > the ruling gave drug companies a head start on developing medicines to > be > ready to sell as soon as the patents on other drugs expired. > > "It gave enormous latitude to conduct the testing necessary to bring > therapies to needy patients," Mr. Rosenkranz, who is with the Heller > Ehrman > law firm in New York, said in an interview. > > Sarah Lenz Lock, a lawyer for AARP, a consumer group representing > older > Americans, also praised the decision, saying it would "speed new drugs > to > market and lower costs of drugs to consumers." > > The case pitted Integra LifeSci-ences, a New Jersey company that had > patented a class of compounds, against Merck of Germany, which had > paid for > a scientist to test some of the compounds for potential use as drugs. > Integra sued Merck in 1996. > > A jury ruled in 2000 that Merck had infringed on Integra's patents and > ordered Merck to pay $15 million, which was later reduced to $6.4 > million. > The appeals court also sided with Integra. But the Supreme Court ruled > for > Merck, which is not related to the American drug company of the same > name. > > The Supreme Court sent the case back to the appeals court for > reconsideration in light of the new ruling. > > Mauricio A. Flores, a lawyer representing Integra, said the Supreme > Court > decision mainly reversed an interpretation of the law by a lower court > but > did not deal with the specific evidence in this case. He said Integra > was > still confident that the jury verdict that Merck had infringed would > still > be upheld. > > "This case isn't over," he said. "We live to fight another day." > > Mr. Rosenkranz, representing Merck, said the company expected to > prevail. > > "The Supreme Court pulled every one of the props out from under > Integra's > position," he said. > > The closely watched case had split the pharmaceutical and > biotechnology > industries. Many big pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies > submitted > briefs on the side of Merck, saying that a narrow interpretation of > the > exemption from patent infringement would slow drug development. > > The drug companies were joined in their argument by the Justice > Department > and by some consumer groups that often find themselves on the opposite > side > of issues from the pharmaceutical industry. > > Backing Integra were many biotechnology companies that make patented > equipment and chemicals used in drug research, as well as some > universities, > which often invent new research techniques. > > They argued that granting a broad exemption from patent infringement > would > basically put them out of business since their products, which include > sophisticated chemical testing machines and enzymes that manipulate > genes > and proteins, have little use outside of drug research. > > Some lawyers for these companies also said it was hypocritical of drug > companies, which constantly assert the importance of strong patent > protection in spurring innovation, to argue that they should be > permitted to > infringe upon patents held by others. > > The Supreme Court said in a footnote that this case was about research > using > patented drugs themselves, not about tools used to study those drugs. > Therefore, it did not address whether drug companies could use > research > tools without worrying about patents. > > "Research tools were not at issue and this decision isn't a license > for > people to infringe research tool patents," said Edward R. Reines, who > filed > a brief on behalf of two tool makers, Applera and Isis > Pharmaceuticals. > > Robert W. Esmond, a Washington lawyer whose firm filed a brief on > behalf of > another research tool maker, Vaccinex, said the decision "leads to > uncertainty over whether or not those patents are enforceable." > > The case revolves around a clause in the Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984, > which set > the ground rules for generic drugs. To enable generic drugs to reach > the > market as soon as the patent on the branded drug expired, the act > permitted > generic companies to make and test their drugs while the patent was > still in > force. > > The clause permits drug companies to infringe on patents "solely for > uses > reasonably related to the development and submission of information" > to the > Food and Drug Administration. But it is not specifically restricted to > generic drugs, so there have been questions about how far it extends. > > The appeals court that handles patent cases ruled in 2003 that the > exemption > should be very narrow, covering, in effect, clinical trials but not > earlier > work like test-tube experiments to determine which of several > compounds > might be the best drug candidate. > > But the Supreme Court ruled that the exemption applied to more than > clinical > trials. > > "There is simply no room in the statute for excluding certain > information > from the exemption on the basis of the phase of research in which it > is > developed," Justice Scalia wrote in the 15-page decision. > > He also wrote that the law "leaves adequate space for experimentation > and > failure on the road to regulatory approval," so that work on compounds > that > do not move forward into clinical trials can still be protected from > infringement. > > Still, the court said that basic scientific research on a compound, > performed without intent to develop a drug, would not be covered. Some > lawyers said that questions of what is covered may still have to be > decided > case by case. Sometimes, the distinction between a research tool and a > drug > compound, for instance, cannot easily be made. > > "They are saying that this exemption goes only so far upstream," said > Stephen B. Maebius, a patent lawyer at Foley & Lardner in Washington > who > represents pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies but was not > involved > in this case. > > In the 1980's, a class of peptides, or small proteins, was discovered > by > scientists at the Burnham Institute in San Diego. Integra later > obtained the > patent rights to the peptides. > > In 1994, David Cheresh, a scientist at the Scripps Research Institute, > across the street from Burnham, discovered that a particular protein > was > involved in building blood vessels. So a compound that blocks the > protein > might be useful in blocking the blood supply to tumors. > > It turned out that peptides similar to those discovered at Burnham did > that. > Merck paid Dr. Cheresh to test some of them and one is now in clinical > trials to treat cancer. > > The patent on the peptides is expected to expire before that drug > comes to > market. > > > > > ________________________________ > Yahoo! Messenger NEW - crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with > voicemail > > > _______________________________________________ > commons-law mailing list > commons-law at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/commons-law > > > From abhishektripathi at lycos.com Thu Jun 16 12:02:38 2005 From: abhishektripathi at lycos.com (Abhishek Nath Tripathi) Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2005 01:32:38 -0500 Subject: Fwd: Re: [Commons-Law] Ban on Showing Smoking in Films...(Hasit) (Vasuman Khandelwal) Message-ID: <20050616063238.68D263384B@ws7-3.us4.outblaze.com> An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: not available Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050616/46e4868a/attachment.pl -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050616/46e4868a/attachment.html From shivamvij at gmail.com Wed Jun 15 03:14:37 2005 From: shivamvij at gmail.com (shivam) Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2005 03:14:37 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Re: commons-law Digest, Vol 23, Issue 15 In-Reply-To: <20050614210515.CE0AE28DED0@mail.sarai.net> References: <20050614210515.CE0AE28DED0@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: Srinivas wrote: "If the clay cup is a symbol of oppression ... they fail to mention that using clay cups exclusively for dalits is a custom found in some places." But their homepage says: "DFN has chosen the clay cup™ to be the symbol of the oppression of the Dalits. Throughout India, Dalits are forced to drink out of clay cups which then are destroyed in order to... " Well? On 6/15/05, commons-law-request at sarai.net wrote: > Send commons-law mailing list submissions to > commons-law at sarai.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/commons-law > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > commons-law-request at sarai.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > commons-law-owner at sarai.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of commons-law digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits (srinivas at southcentre.org) > 2. Re: Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits (Jayna Kothari) > 3. Re: Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits (srinivas at southcentre.org) > 4. [arkitectindia] The Power of Nightmares - Transcript of a BBC > documentary (Ghulam Muhammed) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 14:25:31 +0200 > From: srinivas at southcentre.org > Subject: [Commons-Law] Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits > To: commons-law at sarai.net > Message-ID: > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > An organisation based in USA claims that clay cups is its trademark.They > sell clay cups which they claim are made > by dalit community outside hyderabad. For me this is problematic on many > grounds. First of all clay cup is a mundane > thing and to claim trade mark over that is atrocious. It is done in the > name of helping dalits but the trade mark owners are > dalits or potters. And in the cup one finds the name DalitNetwork.org If > the clay cup is a symbol of oppression why even that > should be commercilaised by obtaining trade mark. And not all those who > use clay cups are dalits. And not all dalits use > clay cups. But when they commercialise this they fail to mention that > using clay cups exclusively for dalits is a custom found in > some places.Instead it is claimed "clay cups are commonly used by > establishments in india and are provided exclusively for > dalits" . This is misleading. Dalit organisations and activists should > take up this matter and protest against the trade mark as > well as the move to commercialise social oppression. > http://www.dalitnetwork.org/Documents/Art2ClayCup.html > K.Ravi Srinivas > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050614/fb738f06/attachment-0001.htm > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 06:26:44 -0700 (PDT) > From: "Jayna Kothari" > Subject: Re: [Commons-Law] Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits > To: srinivas at southcentre.org > Cc: commons-law at sarai.net > Message-ID: <20050614132647.3316.fh053.wm at smtp.sc0.cp.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > > Dear Ravi, > > I checked out the website about the clay cups used by > dalit Network.org as I was quite curious. The website > shows that it is only the phrase 'Clay Cup' for which a > trademark application is made, since the 'TM' symbol is > shown. In any case, only a word, symbol, sign, shape > etc can be protected through a trademark and not the > cup made of clay itself. > > cheers, > Jayna > > > On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 14:25:31 +0200, > srinivas at southcentre.org wrote: > > > An organisation based in USA claims > that clay cups is its trademark.They sell clay cups > which they claim are > made > by dalit community outside hyderabad. > For me this is problematic on many grounds. First of > all clay cup is a > mundane > thing and to claim trade mark over that > is atrocious. It is done in the name of helping dalits > but the trade mark > owners are > dalits or potters. And in the cup one > finds the name DalitNetwork.org If the clay cup is a > symbol of oppression > why even that > should be commercilaised by obtaining > trade mark. And not all those who use clay cups are > dalits. And not all > dalits use > clay cups. But when they commercialise > this they fail to mention that using clay cups > exclusively for dalits is > a custom found in > some places.Instead it is claimed "clay > cups are commonly used by establishments in india and > are provided exclusively > for > dalits" . This is misleading. Dalit > organisations and activists should take up this matter > and protest against > the trade mark as > well as the move to commercialise social > oppression. > http://www.dalitnetwork.org/Documents/Art2ClayCup.html > K.Ravi Srinivas > > _________________________________________________ > FindLaw - Free Case Law, Jobs, Library, Community > http://www.FindLaw.com > Get your FREE @JUSTICE.COM email! > http://mail.Justice.com > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 15:55:43 +0200 > From: srinivas at southcentre.org > Subject: Re: [Commons-Law] Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits > To: "Jayna Kothari" > Cc: commons-law at sarai.net > Message-ID: > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Dear Jayna > I know that.But my question is why should there be a trade mark on Clay > Cup in the > first place. I can understand if Star Bucks develops a design for cup and > gets IP > rights over it. But what happens if Star Bucks applies for and gets a > trade mark > Coffee Cup or Plastic Cup. In this case they are using the name of the > dalits for > this purpose. And as pointed out their claim about clay cups is not true. > cheers > ravi > K.Ravi Srinivas > Post Doctoral Fellow > IPR Policy Research & > Development Program > South Centre > 17-19 Chemin Du Champ d'Anier > 1209 Petit Saconnex > Geneva > Switzerland > > Postal Address > > K.Ravi Srinivas > South Centre > CP 228 > 1211 Geneva 19 > Switzerland > > Tel: +41 22 791 81 67 > Fax: +41 22 798 85 31 > > email: srinivas at southcentre.org > > > > "Jayna Kothari" > 14.06.2005 15:26 > > To > srinivas at southcentre.org > cc > commons-law at sarai.net > Subject > Re: [Commons-Law] Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits > > > > > > > > Dear Ravi, > > I checked out the website about the clay cups used by > dalit Network.org as I was quite curious. The website > shows that it is only the phrase 'Clay Cup' for which a > trademark application is made, since the 'TM' symbol is > shown. In any case, only a word, symbol, sign, shape > etc can be protected through a trademark and not the > cup made of clay itself. > > cheers, > Jayna > > > On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 14:25:31 +0200, > srinivas at southcentre.org wrote: > > > An organisation based in USA claims > that clay cups is its trademark.They sell clay cups > which they claim are > made > by dalit community outside hyderabad. > For me this is problematic on many grounds. First of > all clay cup is a > mundane > thing and to claim trade mark over that > is atrocious. It is done in the name of helping dalits > but the trade mark > owners are > dalits or potters. And in the cup one > finds the name DalitNetwork.org If the clay cup is a > symbol of oppression > why even that > should be commercilaised by obtaining > trade mark. And not all those who use clay cups are > dalits. And not all > dalits use > clay cups. But when they commercialise > this they fail to mention that using clay cups > exclusively for dalits is > a custom found in > some places.Instead it is claimed "clay > cups are commonly used by establishments in india and > are provided exclusively > for > dalits" . This is misleading. Dalit > organisations and activists should take up this matter > and protest against > the trade mark as > well as the move to commercialise social > oppression. > http://www.dalitnetwork.org/Documents/Art2ClayCup.html > K.Ravi Srinivas > > _________________________________________________ > FindLaw - Free Case Law, Jobs, Library, Community > http://www.FindLaw.com > Get your FREE @JUSTICE.COM email! > http://mail.Justice.com > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050614/662f14c3/attachment.html > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 12:03:23 -0700 (PDT) > From: Ghulam Muhammed > Subject: [Commons-Law] [arkitectindia] The Power of Nightmares - > Transcript of a BBC documentary > To: abdulrahim92 at hotmail.com, abuasimazmi at hotmail.com, > abuhakimazmi at hotmail.com, admin at proislam.com, ahmed.109 at osu.edu, > ahmedazam007 at yahoo.com, Fareena Alam , > alam.m at neu.edu, aligarhnetwork at yahoogroups.com, alihasan222 at aol.com, > amirali at ilaam.net, anwarhusn at rediffmail.com, > arkitectindia at yahoogroups.com, arshadgm at yahoo.com, arsna at aol.com, > asif_faki at hotmail.com, bestumma , > cair at cair-net.org, cdlr_massari at hotmail.com, editor at islamicvoice.com, > editor at muslimedia.com, f.khan at unsw.edu.au, fadheelah at absamail.co.za, > faizahmed_s at yahoo.com, farzanavee at hotmail.com, > fawsan at giasmd01.vsnl.net.in, gallowayg at parliament.uk, > hilal2 at rediffmail.com, MuslimYouth of India > , info at 1924.org, info at beiruttimes.com, > info at calgaryislam.com, info at imc-usa.org, info at indianmuslim.org.uk, > info at jamiat.org.za, info at mediareviewnet.com, info at oic-oci.org, > islam at irf.net, ismailp at cox.net, jamaat at del6.vsnl.net.in, > jotimes at jpf.com.jo, junaid_sheikh at yahoo.com, k_k_ghori at hotmail.com, > kamalfaruqui at hotmail.com, karamatsheikh at hotmail.com, arshi khan > , khansm at pn2.vsnl.net.in, > kuldipnayar75 at yahoo.com, ma at ajmal.net, maas at ndb.vsnl.net.in, > mahmoodfarooqui at yahoo.com, mail at jimas.org, majeedmemon at hotmail.com, > malikkazim2000 at rediffmail.com, manager at markazulmaarif.org, > manzoor at ndf.vsnl.net.in, mbeg at gsa.state.al.us, meantime at sify.com, > mediaw at hotmail.com, mkasiddiqui at yahoo.com, mkememon at hotmail.com, > moindon at yahoo.com, muazzamnaik at hotmail.com, > mujeebmolvi at rediffmail.com, muslim at del3.vsnl.net.in, > muslim_letterwriters_group at yahoogroups.com, muslimmajlis at hotmail.com, > mzkirmani at hotmail.com, nadwa at sancharnet.in, nation at del3.vsnl.net.in, > oiccabinet at arab.net.sa, okhalidi at mit.edu, peace_initiative > , post at anitapratap.com, > qti at bbc.co.uk, raabta_india at yahoo.com, rabeynadwi at yahoo.com, > radianceweekly at vsnl.com, qureish raghib , > razaacademy at hotmail.com, saadskhan at yahoo.co.uk, samvashi at vsnl.net, > sarfarazarzu at rediffmail.com, shah_ashraf at hotmail.com, > sherwanimk at yahoo.com, sitdelhi at rediffmail.com, > sultanshahin at yahoo.co.uk, syediftikhar at rediffmail.com, > syedtahirmahmood at hotmail.com, tavleensingh at expressindia.com, > themuslims at aol.com, twf-org-feedback-59 at lb.bcentral.com, > yaminz at yahoo.co.uk > Message-ID: <20050613190323.7124.qmail at web8406.mail.in.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Baby It's Cold Outside (first half) ... 31 October 04 > The Power of Nightmares > > > Transcript of the first half of Episode 1, �Baby It�s Cold Outside� > full-length Bittorrent file > > > Originally aired on BBC 2, 20 October 2004, 9 pm > Written and Produced by Adam Curtis > > VO: In the past, politicians promised to create a better world. They had different ways of achieving this. But their power and authority came from the optimistic visions they offered to their people. Those dreams failed. And today, people have lost faith in ideologies. Increasingly, politicians are seen simply as managers of public life. But now, they have discovered a new role that restores their power and authority. Instead of delivering dreams, politicians now promise to protect us from nightmares. They say that they will rescue us from dreadful dangers that we cannot see and do not understand. And the greatest danger of all is international terrorism. A powerful and sinister network, with sleeper cells in countries across the world. A threat that needs to be fought by a war on terror. But much of this threat is a fantasy, which has been exaggerated and distorted by politicians. It�s a dark illusion that has spread unquestioned through governments around the world, the security > services, and the international media. > > VO: This is a series of films about how and why that fantasy was created, and who it benefits. At the heart of the story are two groups: the American neoconservatives, and the radical Islamists. Both were idealists who were born out of the failure of the liberal dream to build a better world. And both had a very similar explanation for what caused that failure. These two groups have changed the world, but not in the way that either intended. Together, they created today�s nightmare vision of a secret, organized evil that threatens the world. A fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age. And those with the darkest fears became the most powerful. > > [ OPENING TITLES: THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES / THE RISE OF THE POLITICS OF FEAR > > Part One: BABY IT�S COLD OUTSIDE ] > > VO: The story begins in the summer of 1949� > > [ TITLE: COLORADO 1949 ] > > VO: ...when a middle-aged school inspector from Egypt arrived at the small town of Greeley, in Colorado. His name was Sayyed Qutb. Qutb had been sent to the U.S. to study its educational system, and he enrolled in the local state college. His photographs appear in the college yearbook. But Qutb was destined to become much more than a school inspector. Out of his experiences of America that summer, Qutb was going to develop a powerful set of ideas that would directly inspire those who flew the planes on the attack of September the 11th. As he had traveled across the country, Qutb had become increasingly disenchanted with America. The very things that, on the surface, made the country look prosperous and happy, Qutb saw as signs of an inner corruption and decay. > > JOHN CALVERT, Islamist historian: This was Truman�s America, and many Americans today regard it as a golden age of their civilization. But for Qutb, he saw a sinister side in this. All around him was crassness, corruption, vulgarity�talk centered on movie stars and automobile prices. He was also very concerned that the inhabitants of Greeley spent a lot of time in lawn care. Pruning their hedges, cutting their lawns. This, for Qutb, was indicative of the selfish and materialistic aspect of American life. Americans lived these isolated lives surrounded by their lawns. They lusted after material goods. And this, says Qutb quite succinctly, is the taste of America. > > VO: What Qutb believed he was seeing was a hidden and dangerous reality underneath the surface of ordinary American life. One summer night, he went to a dance at a local church hall. He later wrote that what he saw that night crystallized his vision. > > CALVERT: He talks about how the pastor played on the gramophone one of the big-band hits of the day, �Baby, It�s Cold Outside.� He dimmed the lights so as to create a dreamy, romantic effect. And then, Qutb says that �chests met chests, arms circled waists, and the hall was full of lust and love.� > > VO: To most people watching this dance, it would have been an innocent picture of youthful happiness. But Qutb saw something else: the dancers in front of him were tragic lost souls. They believed that they were free. But in reality, they were trapped by their own selfish and greedy desires. American society was not going forwards; it was taking people backwards. They were becoming isolated beings, driven by primitive animal forces. Such creatures, Qutb believed, could corrode the very bonds that held society together. And he became determined that night to prevent this culture of selfish individualism taking over his own country. > > [ TITLE: CHICAGO ] > > VO: But Qutb was not alone. At the same time, in Chicago, there was another man who shared the same fears about the destructive force of individualism in America. He was an obscure political philosopher at the University of Chicago. But his ideas would also have far-reaching consequences, because they would become the shaping force behind the neoconservative movement, which now dominates the American administration. He was called Leo Strauss. Strauss is a mysterious figure. He refused to be filmed or interviewed. He devoted his time to creating a loyal band of students. And what he taught them was that the prosperous liberal society they were living in contained the seeds of its own destruction. > > Professor HARVEY MANSFIELD, Straussian Philosopher, Harvard University: He didn�t give interviews, or write political essays, or appear on the radio�there wasn�t TV yet�or things like that. But he did want to get a school of students to see what he had seen: that Western liberalism led to nihilism, and had undergone a development at the end of which it could no longer define itself or defend itself. A development which took everything praiseworthy and admirable out of human beings, and made us into dwarf animals. Made us into herd animals�sick little dwarves, satisfied with a dangerous life in which nothing is true and everything is permitted. > > VO: Strauss believed that the liberal idea of individual freedom led people to question everything�all values, all moral truths. Instead, people were led by their own selfish desires. And this threatened to tear apart the shared values which held society together. But there was a way to stop this, Strauss believed. It was for politicians to assert powerful and inspiring myths that everyone could believe in. They might not be true, but they were necessary illusions. One of these was religion; the other was the myth of the nation. And in America, that was the idea that the country had a unique destiny to battle the forces of evil throughout the world. This myth was epitomized, Strauss told his students, in his favorite television program: Gunsmoke. > > Professor STANLEY ROSEN, Pupil of Leo Strauss 1949: Strauss was a great fan of American television. Gunsmoke was his great favorite, and he would hurry home from the seminar, which would end at, you know, 5:30 or so, and have a quick dinner so he could be at his seat before the television set when Gunsmoke came on. And he felt that this was good, this show. This had a salutary effect on the American public, because it showed the conflict between good and evil in a way that would be immediately intelligible to everyone. > > BAD MAN on Gunsmoke: Let�s see what happens! > > JAMES ARNESS: No! [ SHOOTS bad man; bad man DROPS to the ground ] > > ROSEN: The hero has a white hat; he�s faster on the draw than the bad man; the good guy wins. And it�s not just that the good guy wins, but that values are clear. That�s America! We�re gonna triumph over the evils of� of� that are trying to destroy us and the virtues of the Western frontier. Good and evil. > > VO: Leo Strauss� other favorite program was Perry Mason. And this, he told his students, epitomized the role that they, the �lite, had to play. In public, they should promote the myths necessary to rescue America from decay. But in private, they didn�t have to believe in them. > > ROSEN: Perry Mason was different from Gunsmoke. The extremely cunning man who, as far as we can see, is very virtuous and uses his great intelligence and quickness of mind to rescue his clients from dangers, but who could be fooling us�because he�s cleverer than we are. Is he really telling the truth? Maybe his client is guilty! > > VO: In 1950, Sayyed Qutb traveled back to Egypt from America. He too was determined to find some way of controlling the forces of selfish individualism. And as he traveled, he began to envisage a new type of society. It would have all the modern benefits of Western science and technology, but a more political Islam would have a central role to play, keeping individualism in check. It would provide a moral framework that would stop people�s selfish desires from overwhelming them. But Qutb realized that American culture was already spreading to Egypt, trapping the masses in its seductive dream. What was needed, he believed, was an �lite, a vanguard who could see through these illusions of freedom, just as he had in America, and who would then lead the masses to realize the higher truth. > > Dr AZZAM TAMIMI, Institute of Islamic Political Thought: The masses need to be led. And it is this vanguard group that will be responsible for the task of leading the people out of the darkness and into the light of Islam. Because the masses had succumbed to their own selfish desires, and he wanted the vanguard to be different, to be pure, to be standing together outside all of this corrupt situation, bringing people back to the truth. > > VO: On his return, Qutb became politically active in Egypt. He joined a group called the Muslim Brotherhood, who wanted Islam to play a major role in governing Egyptian society. And in 1952, the Brotherhood supported the revolution led by General Nasser that overthrew the last remnants of British rule. But Nasser very quickly made it clear that the new Egypt was going to be a secular society that emulated Western morals. He quickly forged an alliance with America. And the CIA came to Egypt to organize security agencies for the new r�gime. Faced with this, the Muslim Brotherhood began to organize against Nasser, and in 1954 Qutb and other leading members of the Brotherhood were arrested by the security services. What then happened to Qutb was going to have consequences for the whole world. > > [ ARABIC-SPEAKING VOICE FROM PRISON CAMP FILM ] > > VO: In the 1970s, this film was made, that showed what happened in Nasser�s main prison in the �50s and �60s. It was based on the testimony of survivors. Torturers who had been trained by the CIA unleashed an orgy of violence against Muslim Brotherhood members accused of plotting to overthrow Nasser. At one point, Qutb was covered with animal fat and locked in a cell with dogs trained to attack humans. Inside the cell, he had a heart attack. > > General FOUAD ALLAM, Interrogator Interior Ministry 1958-87 (speaking in Arabic; subtitled): Sayyed Qutb thought of himself as a superior sort of person. He saw himself as an important Islamist thinker and a strong character. And so on and so on. But at the end of the day, when he was in the military prison he gave us the exact details about his secret group and the orders he had given. The most dangerous was the order to flood the whole of the Nile delta and drown this corrupt land of infidels. > > VO: Qutb survived, but the torture had a powerful radicalizing effect on his ideas. Up to this point, he had believed that the Western secular ideas simply created the selfishness and the isolation he had seen in the United States. But the torture, he believed, showed that this culture also unleashed the most brutal and barbarous aspects of human beings. Qutb began to have an apocalyptic vision of a disease that was spreading from the West throughout the world. He called it jahilliyah�a state of barbarous ignorance. What made it so terrifying and insidious was that people didn�t realize that they were infected. They believed that they were free, and that their politicians were taking them forward to a new world. But in fact, they were regressing to a barbarous age. > > ROXANNE EUBEN, Political Scientist: The sense is that jahilliyah is so dangerous now, because not only is it advanced by Western powers, but Muslims�this is like a charge of false consciousness�Muslims have become infected with this jahilliyah, so now the threat to Islam is also from within. It�s from without, and within. It�s a state of emergency, because jahilliyah is a condition that pervades everything and everybody. It�s even infected our powers of imagination�we don�t even know that we�re sick! That we now worship materialism, and the self, and individual truths over the real truths. Um, so it�s an incredible sense of epic confrontation, where Islam is being insulted on all fronts�from within, from without, culturally, militarily, economically, politically. And under those circumstances, any way of fighting it becomes justified and legitimate, and in fact has a kind of existential weight, because somehow it�s doing God�s will on earth. > > VO: To Qutb, this force of jahilliyah had now gone so deep into the minds of Muslims that a dramatic way had to be found to free them. In a series of books he wrote secretly in prison, which were then smuggled out, Qutb called upon a revolutionary vanguard to rise up and overthrow the leaders who had allowed jahilliyah to infect their countries. The implication was that these leaders could justifiably be killed, because they had become so corrupted, they were no longer Muslims, even though they said they were. Faced with this, Nasser decided to crush Qutb and his ideas, and in 1966 Qutb was put on trial for treason. This is the only known film of Qutb as he awaits sentence. The verdict was a foregone conclusion, and on August 29, 1966, Qutb was executed. But his ideas lived on. The day after his execution, a young schoolboy set up a secret group. He hoped that it would one day become the vanguard that Qutb had hoped for. His name was Ayman Zawahiri, and Zawahiri was to become the > mentor to Osama bin-Laden. > > [ TITLE: AMERICA 1967 ] > > VO: But at the very moment when Sayyed Qutb�s ideas seemed dead and buried, Leo Strauss� ideas about how to transform America were about to become powerful and influential, because the liberal political order that had dominated America since the war started to collapse. > > [ TITLE: 11pm, JULY 25th 1967 ] > > PRESIDENT LYNDON B. JOHNSON: Law and order have broken down in Detroit, Michigan. Pillage, looting, murder� > > VO: Only a few years before, President Johnson had promised policies that would create a new and a better world in America. He had called it �the Great Society.� > > [ TITLE: President LYNDON JOHNSON, 1964 ] > > JOHNSON: The Great Society is in place where every child can find knowledge to enrich his mind. It is a place where the City of Man� > > VO: But now, in the wake of some of the worst riots ever seen in America, that dream seemed to have ended in violence and hatred. One prominent liberal journalist called Irving Kristol began to question whether it might actually be the policies themselves that were causing social breakdown. > > IRVING KRISTOL: If you had asked any liberal in 1960, we are going to pass these laws, these laws, these laws, and these laws, mentioning all the laws that in fact were passed in the 1960s and �70s, would you say crime will go up, drug addiction will go up, illegitimacy will go up, or will they get down? Obviously, everyone would have said, they will get down. And everyone would have been wrong. Now, that�s not something that the liberals have been able to face up to. They�ve had their reforms, and they have led to consequences that they did not expect and they don�t know what to do about. > > VO: In the early �70s, Irving Kristol became the focus of a group of disaffected intellectuals in Washington. They were determined to understand why the optimistic liberal policies had failed. And they found the answer in the theories of Leo Strauss. Strauss explained that it was the very basis of the liberal idea�the belief in individual freedom�that was causing the chaos, because it undermined the shared moral framework that held society together. Individuals pursued their own selfish interests, and this inevitably led to conflict. As the movement grew, many young students who had studied Strauss� ideas came to Washington to join this group. Some, like Paul Wolfowitz, had been taught Strauss� ideas at the University of Chicago, as had Francis Fukuyama. And others, like Irving Kristol�s son William, had studied Strauss� theories at Harvard. This group became known as the neoconservatives. > > WILLIAM KRISTOL: Well, many of them couldn�t get academic jobs, and the political science and philosophy faculties were not terribly friendly to those of a conservative or moderately conservative disposition. And the truth is that a lot of people who ended up in Washington started out as academics. I did; Paul Wolfowitz did; and decided they probably didn�t have very good prospects in the academy. What we all had in common, I think, was a certain doubt about what once seemed a kind of great certainty and confidence in liberal progress. The philosophic grounds for liberal democracy had been weakened. So I think Straussians who came to Washington, they didn�t think of themselves as Churchill or Lincoln, let me assure you, but they did that, you know, there�s something noble about public life, and about politics, and they tried to make a contribution in many different areas. > > VO: The neoconservatives were idealists. Their aim was to try and stop the social disintegration they believed liberal freedoms had unleashed. They wanted to find a way of uniting the people, by giving them a shared purpose. One of their great influences in doing this would be the theories of Leo Strauss. They would set out to recreate the myth of America as a unique nation whose destiny was to battle against evil in the world. And in this project, the source of evil would be America�s Cold War enemy: the Soviet Union. And by doing this, they believed that they would not only give new meaning and purpose to people�s lives, but they would spread the good of democracy around the world. > > Professor STEPHEN HOLMES, Political Philosopher: The United States would not only, according to these�the Straussians, be able to bring good to the world, but would be able to overcome the fundamental weaknesses of American society, a society that has been suffering, almost rotting, in their language, from relativism, liberalism, lack of self-confidence, lack of belief in itself. And one of the main political projects of the Straussians during the Cold War was to reinforce the self-confidence of Americans, and the belief that America was fundamentally the only force for good in the world, that had to be supported, otherwise evil would prevail. > > VO: But to do this, the neoconservatives were going to have to defeat one of the most powerful men in the world. Henry Kissinger was the Secretary of State under President Nixon, and he didn�t believe in a world of good and evil. What drove Kissinger was a ruthless, pragmatic vision of power in the world. With America�s growing political and social chaos, Kissinger wanted the country to give up its ideological battles. Instead, it should come to terms with countries like the Soviet Union, to create a new kind of global interdependence. A world in which America would be safe. > > HENRY KISSINGER, Interviewed 1975: I believe that with all the dislocations we know�now experience, there also exists an extraordinary opportunity to form, for the first time in history, a truly global society, carried by the principle of interdependence. And if we act wisely and with vision, I think we can look back to all this turmoil as the birth pangs of a more creative and better system. > > VO: Kissinger had begun this process in 1972, when he persuaded the Soviet Union to sign a treaty with America limiting nuclear arms. It was the start of what was called �d�tente.� And President Nixon returned to Washington to announce triumphantly that the age of fear was over. > > PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON, June 1, 1972: Last Friday, in Moscow, we witnessed the beginning of the end of that era which began in 1945. With this step, we have enhanced the security of both nations. We have begun to reduce the level of fear, by reducing the causes of fear�for our two peoples, and for all peoples in the world. > > VO: But a world without fear was not what the neoconservatives needed to pursue their project. They now set out to destroy Henry Kissinger�s vision. What gave them their opportunity was the growing collapse of American political power, both abroad and at home. The defeat in Vietnam, and the resignation of President Nixon over Watergate, led to a crisis of confidence in America�s political class. And the neoconservatives seized their moment. They allied themselves with two right-wingers in the new administration of Gerald Ford. One was Donald Rumsfeld, the new Secretary of Defense. The other was Dick Cheney, the President�s Chief of Staff. Rumsfeld began to make speeches alleging that the Soviets were ignoring Kissinger�s treaties and secretly building up their weapons, with the intention of attacking America. > > DONALD RUMSFELD, US Secretary of Defense, Speaking in 1976: The Soviet Union has been busy. They�ve been busy in terms of their level of effort; they�ve been busy in terms of the actual weapons they�ve been producing; they�ve been busy in terms of expanding production rates; they�ve been busy in terms of expanding their institutional capability to produce additional weapons at additional rates; they�ve been busy in terms of expanding their capability to increasingly improve the sophistication of those weapons. Year after year after year, they�ve been demonstrating that they have steadiness of purpose. They�re purposeful about what they�re doing. Now, your question is, what ought one to be doing about that? > > VO: The CIA, and other agencies who watched the Soviet Union continuously for any sign of threat, said that this was a complete fiction. There was no truth to Rumsfeld�s allegations. But Rumsfeld used his position to persuade President Ford to set up an independent inquiry. He said it would prove that there was a hidden threat to America. And the inquiry would be run by a group of neoconservatives, one of whom was Paul Wolfowitz. The aim was to change the way America saw the Soviet Union. > > MELVIN GOODMAN, Head of Office of Soviet Affairs CIA, 1976-87: And Rumsfeld won that very intense, intense political battle that was waged in Washington in 1975 and 1976. Now, as part of that battle, Rumsfeld and others, people such as Paul Wolfowitz, wanted to get into the CIA. And their mission was to create a much more severe view of the Soviet Union, Soviet intentions, Soviet views about fighting and winning a nuclear war. > > VO: The neoconservatives chose, as the inquiry chairman, a well-known critic and historian of the Soviet Union called Richard Pipes. Pipes was convinced that whatever the Soviets said publicly, secretly they still intended to attack and conquer America. This was their hidden mindset. The inquiry was called Team B, and the other leading member was Paul Wolfowitz. > > Professor RICHARD PIPES: And the idea was then to appoint a group of outside experts who have access to the same evidence as the CIA used to arrive at these conclusions, and to see if they could come up with different conclusions. And I was asked to chair it, because I was not an expert on nuclear weapons. I was, if anything, an expert on the Soviet mindset, but not on the weapons. But that was the real key, was the question of the Soviet mindset, because the CIA looked only at�they were known as �bean counters,� always looking at weapons. But weapons can be used in various ways. They can be used for defensive purposes or offensive purposes. Well, all right, I collected this group of experts, and we began to sift through the evidence. > > VO: Team B began examining all the CIA data on the Soviet Union. But however closely they looked, there was little evidence of the dangerous weapons or defense systems they claimed the Soviets were developing. Rather than accept that this meant that the systems didn�t exist, Team B made an assumption that the Soviets had developed systems that were so sophisticated, they were undetectible. For example, they could find no evidence that the Soviet submarine fleet had an acoustic defense system. What this meant, Team B said, was that the Soviets had actually invented a new non-acoustic system, which was impossible to detect. And this meant that the whole of the American submarine fleet was at risk from an invisible threat that was there, even though there was no evidence for it. > > Dr ANNE CAHN, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, 1977-80: They couldn�t say that the Soviets had acoustic means of picking up American submarines, because they couldn�t find it. So they said, well maybe they have a non-acoustic means of making our submarine fleet vulnerable. But there was no evidence that they had a non-acoustic system. They�re saying, �we can�t find evidence that they�re doing it the way that everyone thinks they�re doing it, so they must be doing it a different way. We don�t know what that different way is, but they must be doing it.� > > INTERVIEWER (off-camera): Even though there was no evidence. > > CAHN: Even though there was no evidence. > > INTERVIEWER: So they�re saying there, that the fact that the weapon doesn�t exist� > > CAHN: Doesn�t mean that it doesn�t exist. It just means that we haven�t found it. > > PIPES: Now, that�s important, yes. If something is not there, that�s significant. > > INTERVIEWER: By its absence. > > PIPES: By its absence. If you believe that they share your view of strategic weapons, and they don�t talk about it, then there�s something missing. Something is wrong. And the CIA wasn�t aware of that. > > VO: What Team B accused the CIA of missing was a hidden and sinister reality in the Soviet Union. Not only were there many secret weapons the CIA hadn�t found, but they were wrong about many of those they could observe, such as the Soviet air defenses. The CIA were convinced that these were in a state of collapse, reflecting the growing economic chaos in the Soviet Union. Team B said that this was actually a cunning deception by the Soviet r�gime. The air-defense system worked perfectly. But the only evidence they produced to prove this was the official Soviet training manual, which proudly asserted that their air-defense system was fully integrated and functioned flawlessly. The CIA accused Team B of moving into a fantasy world. > > PIPES: The CIA was very loath to deal with issues which could not be demonstrated in a kind of mathematical form. I said they could consider the soft evidence. They deal with realities, whereas this was a fantasy. That�s how it was perceived. And there were battles all the time on this subject. > > INTERVIEWER: Did you think it was a fantasy? > > PIPES: No! I thought it was absolute reality. > > CAHN: I would say that all of it was fantasy. I mean, they looked at radars out in Krasnoyarsk and said, �This is a laser beam weapon,� when in fact it was nothing of the sort. They even took a Russian military manual, which the correct translation of it is �The Art of Winning.� And when they translated it and put it into Team B, they called it �The Art of Conquest.� Well, there�s a difference between �conquest� and �winning.� And if you go through most of Team B�s specific allegations about weapons systems, and you just examine them one by one, they were all wrong. > > INTERVIEWER: All of them? > > CAHN: All of them. > > INTERVIEWER: Nothing true? > > CAHN: I don�t believe anything in Team B was really true. > > VO: The neoconservatives set up a lobby group to publicize the findings of Team B. It was called the Committee on the Present Danger, and a growing number of politicians joined, including a Presidential hopeful, Ronald Reagan. > > [ TITLE: The Price of Peace and Freedom / Committee on the Present Danger, propaganda film 1978 ] > > VO: Through films and television, the Committee portrayed a world in which America was under threat from hidden forces that could strike at any time, forces that America must conquer to survive. > > ALEKSANDR SOLZHENITSYN, through interpreter: A concentration of world evil, of hatred for humanity, is taking place. And it is fully determined to destroy your society. Must you wait until the young men of America have to fall defending the borders of their continent?! > > VO: This dramatic battle between good and evil was precisely the kind of myth that Leo Strauss had taught his students would be necessary to rescue the country from moral decay. It might not be true, but it was necessary, to re-engage the public in a grand vision of America�s destiny, that would give meaning and purpose to their lives. The neoconservatives were succeeding in creating a simplistic fiction�a vision of the Soviet Union as the center of all evil in the world, and America as the only country that could rescue the world. And this nightmarish vision was beginning to give the neoconservatives great power and influence. > > HOLMES: The Straussians started to create a worldview which is a fiction. The world is not divided into good and evil. The battle in which we are engaged is not a battle between good and evil. The United States, as anyone who observes understands, has done some good and some bad things. It�s like any great power. This is the way history is. But they wanted to create a world of moral certainties, so therefore they invent mythologies�fairytales�describing any force in the world that obstructs the United States as somehow Satanic, or associated with evil. > > Go to second half > > > > React! > So, there\�s a simple answer to why the United States finds itself hated by the rest of the world, at war with a sixth of it, in a quagmire in Iraq, and burning money as if it were confetti even as we slide into environmental and social catastrophe: > > The Republican Party ideological elite is populated by morons. Passionate morons. > > This makes a great deal of sense. > � js Oct 31, 8:05am # > Powerful stuff, thank you for the hard work. > � Guy Oct 31, 12:36pm # > Except they spell it \�morans\�. Either way, rightwingnuts are idiots. > � Lynn Nov 1, 2:12pm # > But as the series shows, there�s another way to look at it. The �rightwingnuts� who created and popularized the theories of neoconservatism are hardly �morans.� Cynical, manipulative, power-hungry�absolutely. But many of them possess a kind of malign intelligence. > > As for the dupes who unthinkingly swill their Kool-aid, some of them are certainly stupid, but most of them are simply ignorant�and there�s a big difference between ignorance and stupidity. > � vaara Nov 1, 6:11pm # > Thanks for posting this. (And congratulations on the link from Digby.) > � richardphx Nov 1, 7:13pm # > As for those Kool-Aid dupes mentioned above by vaara, yes there is a difference between ignorance and stupidity, but I beg to differ on what it is. When you live in a democratic society with free media, in the most powerful country in the world, being `simply` ignorant, as if by accident, is not possible. It is a stupid and irresponsible choice. > � Phyllisphish><> Nov 16, 11:34pm # > Many people have other things to do than watch the news. It\�s a peripheral, abstracted, probably irrelevant thing (except perhaps the sports; their buddies watch that too) which they can trade brief platitudes about in a bar or while watching little league. On the other hand, they may have in-depth knowledge of their profession, of goings on in their county and state, of the details of the mechanisms of automobiles, etc, most of which are equally or more complex than this. This is because of the intermediaries who explain those things to them in a relevant, calm and unfatiguing way. It\�s not about lack of intellect or inability to comprehend. It\�s about failure of presentation, over-simplification and hoarding of power by the embeded upper-middle classes. It\�s about the continuation of the project to found a deniable empire. That\�s the bottom line. Money and power for the already affluent (via tax breaks, share holdings and displaced influential spending through manipulation > of charities) and bread and circuses for the rest. That\�s why Bush won. The new, uncaring, irresponsible aristocracy is consolidating its position. > � me Nov 20, 2:04pm # > comments > � Richard Dec 9, 5:44pm # > It is frigthening to me how rapidly my fellow Americans have agreed to and accepted this nightmare vision of the world. In each of us there is the desire to be special and unique (elite). The Republicans give the public this status through statements full of veiled racist and fascist illusions. > In my America, the image you project is more important than the reality of the self. All the factors of US culture now accellerate this fantasy world: hip-hop music and �bling� fashion, corporate creative accounting, and now governmental edict. > The funny (ok, maybe sad) part is that the �intellectual� people driving this new world order are ignoring the historical parallels of other declining empires. The ascendancy of the wealthiest citizens, promoting ignorance among the �lower� classes, spreading a false vision that the empire is morally and culturally superior to rest of the world, and the insistence that the institutions of the empire are all healthy and viable. > Ancient Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times. > � AnonUSA Dec 10, 10:54pm # > silt3.com/index.php?id=572 > the power of nightmares > � me Dec 17, 4:32pm # > The best way I can explain why the Neo-Cons are able to get away with what they are doing, is 9/11. That�s it. That�s all. The world outside of America believes that the ONLY bad things the American Gov�t is doing right now is the War in Iraq. I got news for you, and it may make you feel better. Americans are loosing their �Freedom�. The US Gov�t are passing laws left and right that are turning the US into a Police State. If you think the way the US Military treated the people of Fallujah was bad, wait till you see America in 10 years. Fallujah is just practice on how to indoctrinate the population of an entire city into a Martial Law Police State. They are retinal scanning, finger printing, DNA sampling, biometric (facial) measuring, and dumping it all into a huge database. > I feel like I�m on the Titanic watching the band still playing while the whole thing goes down� > � agent fred Dec 18, 4:37am # > Anybody with a new link to the film? Torrent doesn�t work anymore > Thanks > � Nose Quiensoy Dec 29, 12:47am # > This �Team B� is the same one mentioned in The Unauthorised Biography > mostly in Chapter 15 > but a bit in chs 16 and 12 too > � hclsmith Dec 29, 4:06am # > What a relief to know that there are other Americans who see what is happening. I think the reason the neocons can get away with their campaign to dominate the world based on inculcated fear is the ignorance of the American people about history, even their own, about cultural differences, and about the attitudes and skills that engender critical thinking. Can anything be done about this? > � sylvia morrison Dec 31, 7:46am # > The payoff with figuring this all out is that ones intuition and the very bad feeling from that alone compounds this fear driven world view painted here. The PaPa > will have to manufacture a really big fairy tale to sooth the masses. > Chat room chatter is like a barometer hinting at all this clatter. I can feel the emotion and reason throbbing out of my computer into my veins and I bow before my screen. Then I Goggle on my powerless way to the grave waiting, to late, to really be a patriot. > � Tom Hilber Dec 31, 12:55pm # > I think I�ll take a stab at what I think is why people don�t see what is really happening. My parents had a word for it. The TV Triangle. Yupp, Like the bermuda triangle, it sucks you in and you can�t get out. My sisters and brothers would sit in front of the TV, dazed, and wouldn�t acknowledge when you called their name. The Media and the news play a huge part of a persons perspective of their world around them. Most Americans aren�t well Traveled and get most of our information from the boob tube. (Remember that movie?) Politicians and the Neo-cons, et al simply grasped onto that fact (no wonder we see the same stories on every channel) The Problem isn�t the liberals, independents, neo-cons or the Centrists etc. Its because of the Media we are Invaded by everywhere you look. Frankly, I havent been able to stand to watch corporate mass media for years. Got Books? > � AckSyn JackSyn Feb 9, 4:48am # > hello > � Rania Feb 24, 9:55pm # > Vaara, how lovely to find you again; Silt 3 is a great looking site. > > Thank-you for this transcript; it�s amazing stuff. I�m so glad you left the link at Digby. > > How�s your dog; still with you I hope? > > Again, thanks > � Leah A Apr 29, 1:25pm # > And thanks for your nice comments. > > Of course Mila is still with us�a bit older and fatter, but aren�t we all? > > A note to anyone else reading this: The Bittorrent links are bad. Suprnova has shut down. I�ll try to post an updated link ASAP. > > Also, thanks to the BAFTA award and the showings at the TriBeCa Film Festival and Cannes, it�s looking more likely that TPON may be released on DVD soon. Stay tuned! > � vaara Apr 29, 1:34pm # > > I can�t but wonder what the good religtous people in my world will do when they figure out they sold out to neocons and the liberals start looking benign again. > > ------------- > > The Power of Nightmares > > > > Transcript of the second half of Episode 1, �Baby It�s Cold Outside� (first half) > > full-length Bittorrent file > > > > Originally aired on BBC 2, 20 October 2004, 9 pm > > Written and Produced by Adam Curtis > > > > TITLE: EGYPT 1979 > > > > [ CLIPS FROM WESTERN � STYLE EGYPTIAN TV COMMERCIALS ] > > > > Voice-Over: By the late 1970s, Egypt had been transformed. On the surface, it had become a modern, westernized state with a prosperous middle class who were benefiting from a flood of Western capital that was being invested in the country. One member of this prosperous Egyptian �lite was Ayman Zawahiri. He was now a young doctor, just starting his career. > > > > OMAR AZZAM, Cousin of Ayman Zawahiri: Ayman, he was an ideal person, who was a doctor coming from a very good family. His father was a professor in the university, his grandfather was an ambassador, his other grandfather was Sheikh of al-Azhar; very well respected family. He used to be the sort of person that acted by the book. Not looking for prestige, not looking for money, not looking for propaganda. Ayman became a leader because of his attitudes. > > > > VO: In reality, Zawahiri was the leader of an underground Islamist cell. The group that he had started as a schoolboy, which he had modeled on the ideas of Sayyed Qutb, had grown. Sayyed Qutb�s ideas were now spreading rapidly in Egypt� above all, among students�because his predictions about the corruption from the West seemed to have come true. The government of President Sadat was controlled by a small group of millionaires, who were backed by Western banks. The banks had been let in by what Sadat called his open-door policy. To the Western media, Sadat denied any corruption. All Egyptians knew that this was a blatant lie. > > > > PRESIDENT SADAT 1977: Who has benefited now from the open-door policy? Taxi drivers. The liberals. All of those have benefited from the open-door policy. It is not like they say, that there are millionaires here and so. No, not at all. This is pure, um, pure black propaganda from the side of the Soviet Union and agents here in the country. > > > > VO: Zawahiri was convinced that the time was now approaching to fulfill Qutb�s vision. The vanguard should rise up and overthrow this corrupt r�gime. And the man who would give the Islamists that opportunity would be Henry Kissinger. As part of his attempt to create a stable and balanced world, Kissinger had persuaded President Sadat to begin peace negotiations with the Israelis. To Kissinger, the ruthless pragmatist, religious divisions and hatreds were irrelevant. The most important thing was to create a safer world. And in 1977, Sadat had flown to Jerusalem to start the peace process. To the West, it was a heroic act. But to the Islamists, it was a complete betrayal. It showed that Sadat�s mind had become so corrupted by the West that he was now completely under their control. And under the theories of Sayyed Qutb, this meant that he was no longer a Muslim, and so could justifiably be killed. And then, in 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini showed Zawahiri that his dream of creating an > Islamist state was possible. > > > > [SUBTITLE OVER RIOT SCENE: God is great! ] > > > > VO: Khomeini had inspired an uprising against the Shah of Iran. The Shah was another leader who had allowed Western banks to corrupt his country. > > > > [SUBTITLE OVER RIOT SCENE: Armed struggle is the road to freedom!] > > > > VO: Khomeini had put forth the idea of an Islamist state� > > > > [SUBTITLE OVER RIOT SCENE: Death to the Shah�s mercenary army!] > > > > VO: ... that was remarkably similar to Qutb�s ideas. He acknowledged this by placing Qutb�s face on one of the postage stamps of the new Islamic republic. In his first sermon, Khomeini addressed the West. �Yes,� he told them, �we are reactionaries, and you are enlightened intellectuals. You who want freedom for everything, the freedom that will corrupt our country, corrupt our youth, and freedom that will pave the way for the oppressor�freedom that would drag our country to the bottom.� > > > > REPORTER (off-camera): You sound very dissatisfied with what�s happening in Iran now. > > > > PRESIDENT SADAT 1979: Not� MORE than dissatisfied, this is disgraceful! Really! I was myself; I was the Secretary-General of the Muslim Congress at one time. This, putting the name �Islamic revolution,� is a crime. A crime against Islam in the first hand. > > > > REPORTER: President Sadat, do you expect that the Shah will accept the invitation? It seems like a good solution right now. > > > > SADAT: Quote me: My aeroplane is ready to bring him here. Any moment. > > > > VO: At the end of 1980, Ayman Zawahiri, with a number of other followers of Qutb who had formed cells, came together. They created an organization they called Islamic Jihad. Its leader was a man called Abdel Salam Faraj. And Faraj argued that they should kill Sadat in a spectacular way that would shock the masses. It would make them see the true reality of the corruption surrounding them, and they would rise up and overthrow the r�gime. > > > > KAMAL HABIB, Founder member of Islamic Jihad (speaking in Arabic, subtitled): The jihadi movement � some of the leaders are still alive � I was one and so was Ayman Zawahiri. We spearheaded the jihadi state of mind rather than the earlier, more moderate ideas in the liberal era that simply accepted reality. Psychologically we thought we were superior to reality. We despised the everyday vision of the world, and we wanted to transform or change this reality. Therefore our dream was to get rid of Sadat. > > > > [SCENES OF SADAT � S ASSASSINATION] > > > > VO: Those who carried out the assassination were a group of Army officers who were a part of Islamic Jihad. They were immediately arrested, and the r�gime launched a massive manhunt for those behind the plot. But the effect of the assassination on the Egyptian people was not what Zawahiri had hoped for. That night, Cairo remained calm. The masses failed to rise up. And in the following weeks, Zawahiri and many other conspirators were arrested. The assassins were tried immediately and executed. But then, nearly 300 Islamists, including Zawahiri, were put on trial in a pavilion in Cairo�s industrial exhibition park. It was agreed that Zawahiri would be their spokesman. > > > > MAN IN CAGE, shouting: ... for [unintelligible], for the whole world, this is our world� Doctor Ayman Zawahiri! > > > > AYMAN ZAWAHIRI, in cage, shouting: Now, we want to speak to the whole world! Who are we? Who are we? Why did they bring us here? And what we want to say? About the first question: we are Muslims! We are Muslims who believed in their religion, in their broad feelings, as both an ideology and practice. We believed in our religion, both as an ideology and practice. And hence, we tried our best to establish [unintelligible] Islamic state and Islamic society! > > > > PRISONER, shouting: La illah la-illallah! > > > > PRISONERS: La illah la-illallah! (etc.) > > > > GILLES KEPEL, Historian of Islamist Movement: Zawahiri, the man is an aristocrat. He comes from a major Egyptian -Saudi family. And he thinks that, you know, he is a visionary, and the means do not matter, just as in Lenin�I mean, revolution in one country or revolution worldwide. He was convinced that this was a means to mobilize the masses, that they had tried something, that it had not worked, then he failed that�you know, the masses that were still under the spell of ideology, the ideology of America. And he is looking for a new strategy. > > > > VO: At the trial, Zawahiri was sentenced to three years in prison, along with many others of Islamic Jihad. He was taken to cells behind the Police National Museum, where, like Sayyed Qutb, he was tortured. And under this torture, he began to interpret Qutb�s theories in a far more radical way. The mystery, for Zawahiri, was why the Egyptian people had failed to see the truth and rise up. It must be because the infection of selfish individualism had gone so deep into people�s minds that they were now as corrupted as their leaders. Zawahiri now seized on a terrible ambiguity in Qutb�s argument. It wasn�t just leaders like Sadat who were no longer real Muslims, it was the people themselves. And Zawahiri believed that this meant that they too could legitimately be killed. But such killing, Zawahiri believed, would have a noble purpose, because of the fear and the terror that it would create in the minds of ordinary Muslims. It would shock them into seeing reality in a different way. > They would then see the truth. > > > > Dr AZZAM TAMIMI, Institute of Islamic Political Thought: Ayman Zawahiri came to the conclusion that because you have what you believe to be a sublime objective, then the means can be as ugly as they can get. You can kill as many people as you wish, because the end means is noble. The logic is that �we are the vanguards, we are the correct Muslims, everybody else is wrong. Not only wrong, but everybody else is not a Muslim, and the only means available to us today is just to kill our way to perfection.� > > > > [TITLE: AMERICA 1981] > > > > COUNTRY SINGER: I�m goin� to a city where the roses never fade� > > > > VO: And at this very same moment, religion was being mobilized politically in America, but for a very different purpose. And those encouraging this were the neoconservatives. Many neoconservatives had become advisers to the Presidential campaign of Ronald Reagan. And as they became more involved with the Republican Party, they had forged an alliance with the religious wing of the party, because it shared their aim of the moral regeneration of America. > > > > IRVING KRISTOL, Founder of Neoconservative movement: The notion that a purely secular society can cope with all of the terrible pathologies that now affect our society, I think has turned out to be false. And that has made me culturally conservative. I mean, I really think religion has a role now to play in redeeming the country. And liberalism is not prepared to give religion a role. Conservatism is, but it doesn�t know how to do it. > > VO: By the late �70s, there were millions of fundamentalist Christians in America. But their preachers had always told them not to vote. It would mean compromising with a doomed and immoral society. But the neoconservatives and their new Republican allies made an alliance with a number of powerful preachers, who told their followers to become involved with politics for the first time. > > > > JAMES ROBISON, Fundamentalist Preacher, 1980: I�m sick and tired of hearing about all of the radicals, and the perverts, and the liberals, and the leftists, and the Communists coming out of the closet! It�s time for God�s people to come out of the closet, out of the churches, and change America! We must do it! > > > > PAUL WEYRICH, Religious activist � Republican Party: The conservative movement, up to that point, was essentially an intellectual movement. It had some very powerful thinkers, but it didn�t have many troops. And as Stalin said of the Pope, �where are his divisions?�. Well, we didn�t have many divisions. When these folks became active, all of a sudden the conservative movement had lots of divisions. We were able to move literally millions of people. And this is something that we had literally no ability to do prior to that time. > > > > INTERVIEWER (off-camera): Literally millions? > > > > WEYRICH: Literally millions. > > > > VO: And at the beginning of 1981, Ronald Reagan took power in America. The religious vote was crucial in his election, because many millions of fundamentalists voted for the first time. And as they had hoped, many neoconservatives were given power in the new administration. Paul Wolfowitz became head of the State Department policy staff, while his close friend Richard Perle became the Assistant Secretary of Defense. And the head of Team B, Richard Pipes, became one of Reagan�s chief advisers. The neoconservatives believed that they now had the chance to implement their vision of America�s revolutionary destiny�to use the country�s power aggressively as a force for good in the world, in an epic battle to defeat the Soviet Union. It was a vision that they shared with millions of their new religious allies. > > > > UNIDENTIFIED PREACHER: I take a personal and public stand as a minister, a stand against Communism. To destroy it, to wipe it from the face of the Earth, because believe you me, these people are dedicated to the destruction of the United States of America and freedom, as we know it. > > > > VO: But the neoconservatives faced immense opposition to this new policy. It came not just from the bureaucracies and Congress, but also from the President himself. Reagan was convinced that the Soviet Union was an evil force, but he still believed that he could negotiate with them to end the Cold War. > > > > Professor RICHARD PIPES, Adviser to President Reagan 1980-83: Reagan at first didn�t quite understand that their aggressiveness is rooted in the system. He had a rather benign view of human beings. He was a very kindly man, and he attributed kind motives to others. There was another form of mirror imaging. And he would say on more than one occasion, something like this: �If I could just sit down with the Soviet leaders and explain to them that they�re following a wrong ideology, and if they adopt the right ideologies, they could make their people happy and prosperous.� So [unintelligible] �Mr. President, that is not going to do it! You have to go after the system. Force them to reform the system.� It took him a very long time to assimilate this view. > > > > VO: To persuade the President, the neoconservatives set out to prove that the Soviet threat was far greater than anyone, even Team B, had previously shown. They would demonstrate that the majority of terrorism and revolutionary movements around the world were actually part of a secret network, coordinated by Moscow, to take over the world. The main proponent of this theory was a leading neoconservative who was the special adviser to the Secretary of State. His name was Michael Ledeen, and he had been influenced by a best-selling book called The Terror Network. It alleged that terrorism was not the fragmented phenomenon that it appeared to be. In reality, all terrorist groups, from the PLO to the Baader-Meinhof group in Germany, and the Provisional IRA, all of them were a part of a coordinated strategy of terror run by the Soviet Union. But the CIA completely disagreed. They said this was just another neoconservative fantasy. > > > > MICHAEL LEDEEN, Special Adviser to the US Secretary of State 1981-1982: The CIA denied it. They tried to convince people that we were really crazy. I mean, they never believed that the Soviet Union was a driving force in the international terror network. They always wanted to believe that terrorist organizations were just what they said they were: local groups trying to avenge terrible evils done to them, or trying to rectify terrible social conditions, and things like that. And the CIA really did buy into the rhetoric. I don�t know what their motive was. I mean, I don�t know what people�s motives are, hardly ever. And I don�t much worry about motives. > > > > VO: But the neoconservatives had a powerful ally. He was William Casey, and he was the new head of the CIA. Casey was sympathetic to the neoconservative view. And when he read the Terror Network book, he was convinced. He called a meeting of the CIA�s Soviet analysts at their headquarters, and told them to produce a report for the President that proved this hidden network existed. But the analysts told him that this would be impossible, because much of the information in the book came from black propaganda the CIA themselves had invented to smear the Soviet Union. They knew that the terror network didn�t exist, because they themselves had made it up. > > > > MELVIN GOODMAN , Head of Soviet Affairs CIA, 1976-87: And when we looked through the book, we found very clear episodes where CIA black propaganda�clandestine information that was designed under a covert action plan to be planted in European newspapers�were picked up and put in this book. A lot of it was made up. It was made up out of whole cloth. > > > > INTERVIEWER (off-camera): You told him this? > > > > GOODMAN: We told him that, point blank. And we even had the operations people to tell Bill Casey this. I thought maybe this might have an impact, but all of us were dismissed. Casey had made up his mind. He knew the Soviets were involved in terrorism, so there was nothing we could tell him to disabuse him. Lies became reality. > > > > VO: In the end, Casey found a university professor who described himself as a terror expert, and he produced a dossier that confirmed that the hidden terror network did, in fact, exist. Under such intense lobbying, Reagan agreed to give the neoconservatives what they wanted, and in 1983 he signed a secret document that fundamentally changed American foreign policy. The country would now fund covert wars to push back the hidden Soviet threat around the world. > > > > President RONALD REAGAN: The specter of Marxist-Leninist controlled governments with ideological and political loyalties to the Soviet Union proves that there�s a direct challenge to which we must respond. They are the focus of evil in the modern world. > > > > VO: It was a triumph for the neoconservatives. America was now setting out to do battle against the forces of evil in the world. But what had started out, as the kind of myth that Leo Strauss had said was necessary for the American people increasingly came to be seen as the truth by the neoconservatives. They began to believe their own fiction. They had become what they called �democratic revolutionaries,� who were going to use force to change the world. > > > > LEDEEN: We were aiming for an expansion of the zone of freedom in the world. And in part that had to do with fighting Communism, and in part that had to do with fighting other kinds of tyrannies. But that�s what we were about, and that�s what we�re still about. > > > > INTERVIEWER (off-camera): When you say you were democratic revolutionaries, what do you mean? > > > > LEDEEN: It meant that we wanted to support the people who wanted to carry out revolutions against tyrannical r�gimes in the name of democracy, in order to install a democratic system. > > > > INTERVIEWER: As simple as that. > > > > LEDEEN: Yeah. It�s not nuclear physics, you know. I mean, freedom is a fairly simple thing to get. > > > > JAMES ARNESS on Gunsmoke (VO): It�s a chancy job�makes a man watchful and a little lonely. But somebody has to do it. > > > > VO: The neoconservatives now set out to transform the world. In next week�s episode, they find themselves joining forces with the Islamists in Afghanistan, and together they fight an epic battle against the Soviet Union. And both come to believe that they had defeated the Evil Empire. But this imagined victory would leave them without an enemy. And in a world disillusioned with grand political ideas, they would need to invent new fantasies and new nightmares, in order to maintain their power. > > > > [END CREDITS � MUSIC: �Baby It�s Cold Outside�] > > > > Go to Part 2 > > > > React! > > > > 1.Thanks a lot. My wife will translate into Russian if you don\�t mind, and we will provide a Subtitled russian version. > > � Iain Nov 1, 9:20pm # > > > > 2. Ne za chto! > > > > Samo soboi razumeetsja, chto avtorskie prava prinadlezhat ne mne, a BBC. No ya sam ne imeiu nikakikh vozrazhenii. > > � vaara Nov 1, 9:31pm # > > > > 3. You\�re a star - many thanks. I\�ll drink to you > > while reading these pages tonight! > > � ed Nov 6, 4:50pm # > > > > 4. http://silt3.com/index.php?id=574 > > Power of Nightmares > > baby its cold II > > � me Dec 17, 4:47pm # > > > > 5. WERE CAN I GET A COPY OT THE MOVIE > > � EDWARD CELLA Dec 30, 8:56pm # > > > > 6. I can�t but wonder what the good religious people in my world will do when they figure out they sold out to neocons and the liberals start looking benign again. > > � Tom Hilber Dec 31, 1:13pm # > > > > > > � Tom Hilber Dec 31, 1:13pm # > > > > > --------------------------------- > Discover Yahoo! > Find restaurants, movies, travel & more fun for the weekend. Check it out! > > --------------------------------- > Discover Yahoo! > Have fun online with music videos, cool games, IM & more. Check it out! > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050613/bdea788a/attachment.htm > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > commons-law mailing list > commons-law at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/commons-law > > > End of commons-law Digest, Vol 23, Issue 15 > ******************************************* > -- I poured reason in two wine glasses Raised one above my head And poured in into my life (-JD) www.shivamvij.com From pedroparanagua at fgvsp.br Thu Jun 16 07:50:30 2005 From: pedroparanagua at fgvsp.br (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=22Pedro_de_Paranagu=E1_Moniz_=28FGV=29=22?=) Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2005 03:20:30 +0100 Subject: [Commons-Law] scandal at WIPO Message-ID: <42B0E1EE.8070006@fgvsp.br> http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=63&res=1280_ff&print=0 7/6/2005 WIPO Faces Persistent Complaints, Allegations Of Mismanagement by William New @ 6:05 pm The World Intellectual Property Organisation is said to be different from many U.N. bodies in that it has long been seen as more of a technical body than the domain of career diplomats who are expert at political wrangling. But in recent months, the organisation has been called upon to address a series of questions about the organisation's financial and management practices that have come under scrutiny along with the United Nations at large. In addition, complaints have arisen about the way meetings of WIPO's members are conducted and policies are developed. In addition to being asked to tighten its spending, the WIPO secretariat is being asked, at least informally, to account for several possible financial irregularities, one of which may be the least substantial but which reaches the highest level - Director General Kamil Idris. So far, the secretariat has held to the position that there is no proof of wrongdoing at WIPO. A WIPO official noted to IP-Watch Tuesday that "neither WIPO, nor any WIPO official, is under investigation." The Swiss newspaper Le Temps on Thursday reported on the involvement of the WIPO building director in the construction of a personal swimming pool for Idris. According to sources cited in the story, the swimming pool was purchased in France in 2003 and paid for in cash by the building director, who worked frequently on the project site in his personal capacity sometimes during office hours. This report rekindled speculation among the Geneva diplomatic community as to why the director general has not called for an investigation into the allegations that have arisen about the organisation, according to diplomatic sources who were interviewed for this story. Some governments support a deeper investigation and stronger response to reports from WIPO. But a U.S. official in April denied that his government has used the potential financial scandal as leverage to push WIPO for gains on the policy front, such as moving a patent law harmonisation agenda. In late April, the international press reported on an investigation by a Geneva-based judge, Jean-Bernard Schmid, into possible bribery charges involving a roughly $50 million contract for renovation at WIPO's headquarters. According to the New York Times and Financial Times, the Swiss investigation looked at whether Michael Wilson, a businessman from Ghana, bribed Khamis Suedi, WIPO assistant director general and special counsel to Idris, to get the WIPO renovation contract. The Swiss investigation has determined that Wilson was paid $3 to 4 million by BPS, a consortium of three Geneva companies, related to their winning of the WIPO contract. Wilson transferred nearly $300,000 to Suedi, but WIPO officials have denied that the transfer was related to the renovation contract. The renovation costs grew from roughly $30 million to nearly $50 million by the end, approved by the member states. Suedi and four other WIPO officials were called to testify, and none have been charged with wrongdoing, according to reports. WIPO Legal Counsel Edward Kwakwa said this week that Idris has looked into the issue. "The director general has taken the necessary steps to ensure WIPO procurement procedures were strictly followed in awarding the contract to BPS." According to one source, Idris conducted his own investigation, and also had an internal committee do an evaluation of the whole procurement process. A WIPO official added that Idris suspended a regulation allowing staff to do business outside WIPO under three conditions: that it did not involve intellectual property, was not WIPO-related, and had authorization of the DG. Idris also has overseen the introduction of an internal audit charter and implementation of recommendations by the U.N. Joint Inspection Unit, the official said. U.N. Inspectors Find Fault With WIPO Budget WIPO's management and administration is under review by the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU). The JIU is the only external U.N. system-wide oversight body, with 11 inspectors. The first part of the JIU review was presented at the WIPO Program and Budget Committee meeting this spring, with a second part to follow at "a later date." The inspectors stated in the first report that they did not review issues related to the remodeling of an old building nor the construction of the new one, but rather reviewed a paper prepared by the WIPO secretariat and submitted to member states on 13 January 2005. The JIU did, however, recommend that WIPO proceed "without delay" with a construction project for a new building at a cost of 139 million Swiss francs using a bank loan of 113.6 million Swiss francs. The cost of the loan is lower than the current cost of renting space, they said. Plus WIPO owns the land, which is adjacent to the current headquarters, and all staff could be relocated to one site. In its preliminary comments on the JIU report, first released in February, the WIPO secretariat noted that the JIU may have derogated from its formal process and that WIPO was given less than the normal length of time to comply with the review. The secretariat also said it is difficult to grasp the complexity of an organisation like WIPO in such a short time. It also noted that a number of WIPO's areas of competency were not included in the review. The first JIU report focused on the budget and financial issues, personnel practices and oversight activities. The inspectors recommended the director general hire independent external expertise using existing funding to perform a comprehensive "desk-to-desk" needs assessment of the human and financial resources of the organisation, which is a way of determining if all of the employees are necessary. In its preliminary comments, WIPO responded that a desk-to-desk assessment may have very high cost implications. The second recommendation was that the WIPO General Assembly, which meets in the fall, should approve an initial 2006-2007 budget at the revised 2004-2005 budget level, depending on the outcome of the needs assessment. The recommendation was made "in light of current financial concerns of the organisation." Unbudgeted, new activities should await the study outcome, it said. The WIPO secretariat agreed to this recommendation as long as recognized flexibilities are taken into account, though it disagreed with the inspectors' financial analysis. The Program and Budget Committee agreed to recommend the proposed budget to the General Assembly without changes for the first time in two biennia, according to an official. The budget would increase slightly from about US$420 million to about $526 million. Third, the director general was urged to complete, "on an urgent basis," consultations with other relevant organisations, such as the European Patent Office, and submit to the General Assembly a proposed methodology to determine the cost of processing Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications. The treaty helps reduce paperwork for patent-holders seeking recognition for their patent in other countries. The secretariat replied that it had already begun work on establishing a methodology for determining the cost of processing PCT applications and that it should be conducted in consultation with all stakeholders. But it added that the current financial situation is the result of three things: the rapid reduction of fees between 1997 and 2003, the simultaneous progressive depletion of the reserves (decided by the member states), and a slowdown in the growth of demand for PCT services. For years, WIPO had a healthy financial situation with significant growth in income due to the high numbers of applications received under the PCT. Unused resources placed in the reserve account reached a peak of 353 million Swiss francs in 1998. The lowering of PCT fees in 1998 led to a gap between the projected and actual income until the director general requested approval to raise the PCT fees as of January 2005 to address the problem. The JIU suggested that WIPO, which has obtains much of its funding from patent fees, should set fees weighing desired expenditures with the cost of requirements. The organisation attempt to raise fees last year met with strong resistance from developed countries that pay most of the fees, according to government and non-governmental sources. WIPO's deficit in 2004-2005 is estimated at US$23 million, with a total budget of $528.8 million, according to the JIU report. But the inspectors counseled against using the emergency reserves to address the gap when "further economies" could reduce the deficit instead. Not drawing upon the reserves before September is in contradiction to decisions taken the member states of the PCT last year, WIPO said. In addition, WIPO cited a regulation stating that financial reserves are established precisely to cover cash flow and budget deficit. PCT fees represent about three-quarters of WIPO's income, so projections of PCT applications are essential for accurate planning. The inspectors said there is no study on the relation between workload increases and costs of services, no methodology to determine the cost of processing PCT applications, and that clients are charged approximately 1400 Swiss francs (roughly US$1100) "without either the client or the secretariat knowing what the amount represents." At several points, WIPO contended with the JIU's analysis, and commented that it is "impossible" to understand the level of resources needed by the organisation based on the limited number of interviews the JIU carried out in two months. Also recommended was to limit transfers between programs to five percent of the smaller of their two biennial appropriations rather than five percent of the total budget, which can distort program objectives and "render meaningless" the program priorities and budgeting. The JIU said it is not aware of any other organisations with that authority. WIPO said this could "reduce the flexibility which has been built into the budget system for more than two decades." Recommendations for tightening up the PCT process included that users of WIPO services pay in Swiss francs, that PCT fees be paid to WIPO upon filing, and that clients be able to pay online. WIPO agreed with this recommendation, acknowledging that exchange rate fluctuations may have an impact on the level of income in the PCT. Another recommendation was that the General Assembly institutionalize the decision of the current director general not to accept extra remuneration for his duties relating to International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, a Geneva-based body providing a system of protecting plant varieties in order to encourage the development of new varieties. The JIU said this will ensure the WIPO director general's salary remains in line with his peers in the U.N. system. WIPO said the current director general is "personally sympathetic" with the recommendation, but said the issue cannot be dealt with the WIPO General Assembly as UPOV is not part of the United Nations system. Personnel Practices Criticized On personnel issues, the inspectors found a number of problems in the absence of a comprehensive human resources strategy. Between 1997 and 2002, approved posts increased by 50 percent, and another 24 percent of the workforce were hired as consultants or on short-term contracts, they said. In its reply, WIPO basically agreed with all of the JIU recommendations on personnel issues, and noted that some were already being implemented or conveyed to the competent governing bodies. But it said the increase in workforce reflects the increase in demand for WIPO's services, and that approved posts are not the same as the actual number of staff. The inspectors criticized a practice of direct recruitment at WIPO, originally set up in 1976 for hiring of professional urgently needed for limited periods has grown into a pathway for confirmation into regular WIPO posts. In the last three years, 99 percent of direct recruits became permanent, despite a rule that they cannot serve more than three years and may not be converted into permanent appointments. The inspectors were told by WIPO that the recruits competed for vacancies. During 2002-2003, 43 percent, or 38 out of 88, of all professional staff recruited were direct hires. WIPO countered that direct recruitment "has served the organisation well, and has been very positively evaluated by independent external experts" and others. The inspectors also raised concerns about a practice of transferring staff from program to program within WIPO, leaving no vacancy behind, and called for the practice to be discontinued. WIPO argued back that this practice was applied only in certain instances and that the majority of cases involved transfers to vacant posts or swapping of posts between programs. Furthermore, the system of personal promotions at WIPO "has been significantly eroded" to where it almost exclusively relies on seniority and not on criteria set up in 1984 that was based on merit. The JIU called for an end to the personal promotion scheme at WIPO because it is not based on merit, deviates from common practices, has significant financial implications and may have a negative effect on staff morale. About 45 percent of a high-level category of staff are on personal grades, and the promotions are granted just prior to retirement, they said. Some officials in the Geneva diplomatic community consistently assert that WIPO has undemocratically selected or promoted officials who advance the WIPO agenda in meetings and represent the geographic region of the director general. As the Idris is from Africa but WIPO is seen as generally favoring developed country industry views, this leads to developing country representatives in meetings who act as "ventriloquists" for the secretariat, they charged. The WIPO official denied this, stating, "Any delegation that takes the floor to speak at a WIPO meeting does so in its capacity as official representative of its government." In the formal reply, WIPO said the report does not capture the increase in geographical and gender diversity from 1997 to 2004. The JIU found that the director general does not have the ability he should have to appoint high-level staff without seeking WIPO coordination committee advice. The JIU recommended dropping the requirement for advice as it "ties the director general's hands unnecessarily and is inefficient for the effective running and management of the organisation." The JIU suggested the adoption of a comprehensive human resources strategy that includes policies on career development, gender balance, geographical distribution and administration of justice. As to auditing of WIPO, the JIU said the Federal Audit Office of the Swiss Confederation, which has always been WIPO's external auditor, performs "excellent financial audits that are well-received by member states," but cited a need for management audits. The inspectors also found fault with WIPO's Internal Audit and Oversight Division, which has never done an audit or made audit plans. None of the division's staff has an audit background, amounting to staffing that is "very inadequate and needs strengthening." The division itself has raised this concern to the director general, they noted. The internal audit function was created in 2000; the evaluation function in 1998. But few program evaluations have been undertaken - four in six years, plus two done by external consultants, the inspectors found. Likewise, only seven internal audits have been conducted, all done by an external consultant, a former member of WIPO's finance staff. There is no annual reporting mechanism to member states and no procedure to follow up on the recommendations of the Audit and Oversight Division, they added. Along these lines, the Program and Budget Committee set up a working group on an audit committee that in late May recommended the committee consider the creation of an audit committee. That recommendation will be addressed later this year. Member Complaints About Inclusion, Meeting Procedure Among the complaints from some member countries is that the budget was formed without inclusion, with only one regional meeting for developing countries and copies of the proposed budget for them only shortly prior to the Program and Budget Committee meeting, while developed countries get to be consulted in the process all along. But the WIPO official countered, "The budgetary process was inclusive. According to established practice, any regional group that requests a special briefing is given one." The official said that prior to any program and budget meeting, member states are given an "equal opportunity" to request through their group coordinators a briefing on program and budget proposals. In addition, an informal session of the Program and Budget Committee was held in February and was open to all member states, the official said. "The WIPO secretariat is at the disposal of all member states to provide detailed briefings on draft proposals at any time upon request," she said. Another complaint is that some meetings are not being handled precisely to WIPO procedures, with decisions favorable to WIPO or WIPO's biggest contributing constituents being pushed through. In at least two key meetings, one last November and one in April, the chairmen attempted to impose a decision of the meeting without the agreement of all members present, according to officials. This was said to be the case the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) meeting last November and the Program and Budget Committee meeting in April. WIPO rules require that a decision may only be reached if all committee members agree. The traditional practice in WIPO has been to conduct meetings based on the principle of consensus. According to one government official, where a consensus is not possible in arriving at final outcomes, WIPO's General Rules of Procedure provide for the possibility of formal voting and spell out the procedure for doing so. Under WIPO rules, without consensus, no decision can be taken unless there is a vote, but WIPO's meetings rarely resort to formal voting, the official said. Instead, the consensus-based approach to negotiations has generally been followed. A WIPO official argued, "While the rules do not explicitly require consensus, it has been a long-standing policy of WIPO to build consensus on international intellectual property issues." But in the notion of consensus appears to be blurring, and in the two meetings cited, the chairman acted in a manner that constituted "a stark deviation from standard practice, as well as a violation of WIPO's Rules of Procedure," the official said. In both cases, the chairmen announced actionable decisions without consensus or a formal vote, but rather on the basis of a "near-consensus." In the SCCR, the chairman called for an informal "show of hands," and determined that a near-consensus was reached, which is not consistent with procedure. WIPO clarified afterward that the outcome of the meeting was the "chair's conclusions" and not a formal decision by the committee. But the complaint is that the chair's conclusions should therefore not be "actionable" and yet they are being taken forward by the secretariat. The same is the case for the PBC, the official said. "In both cases mentioned above, the chairmen used non-procedural, and therefore illegal, means in order to openly confront and isolate some important developing countries in discussions and to impose decisions on which there was no consensus," the official said. "These developments, therefore, point to a trend towards the abandonment in WIPO of the norms of neutrality and impartiality that all chairmen, everywhere, are expected to follow." Yet another concern was that the WIPO secretariat was lobbying prior to the 1-2 June Standing Committee on Patents meeting to get support for the outcome of an informal consultation held by Director General Idris in Casablanca, Morocco in February, despite that outcome having been generated outside the formal and inclusive SCP meeting process. The WIPO official said the General Assembly had given the director general a mandate to conduct informal consultations, which is what he did in Casablanca. The results of these informal consultations was a recommendation on the future work of WIPO adopted by the participants and submitted to the director general who presented it for discussion at the SCP, she said. "If you follow WIPO closely, you will know that the secretariat is committed to inclusive dialogue and consensus building," the official said. "WIPO will continue to ensure that the international patent system evolves in a balanced, user-friendly, and efficient way that serves the interests of all member states and users." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ /This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License . All of the news articles and features on Intellectual Property Watch are also subject to a Creative Commons License which makes them available for widescale, free, non-commercial reproduction and translation./ /William New, the author of this post, may be reached at wnew at ip-watch.org ./ /You can subscribe for automatic notifications of these stories, via the RSS feed or via the e-mail alerts . Subscribers can choose the frequency of notifications as well as particular topics of greatest interest to them./ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050616/e935e6ba/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: line_left_small.gif Type: image/gif Size: 335 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050616/e935e6ba/attachment.gif From jeebesh at sarai.net Thu Jun 16 14:36:54 2005 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2005 14:36:54 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Intellectual Property Protection as Economic Policy Message-ID: <42B1412E.204@sarai.net> * Too much data!! best, j http://www.cecc.gov/pages/roundtables/051605/Smith.php Congressional-Executive Commission on China ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * *Intellectual Property Protection as Economic Policy: Will China Ever Enforce its IP Laws?* * Monday, May 16, from 2:00 – 3:30 PM Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 192 Statement of Eric H. Smith * Mr. Chairman, Members of the Commission and Commission Staff, IIPA and its members thank you for the opportunity to appear today to review China’s record on enforcement of its copyright law against widespread piracy and China’s compliance with its WTO-TRIPS obligations. IIPA represents the U.S. copyright industries. Its six member trade associations consist of over 1,300 U.S. companies, accounting for millions of U.S. jobs. The copyright industries, in 2002, contributed over $625 billion to the GDP, or 6% of the U.S. economy and almost 5.5 million jobs or 4% of U.S. employment. These companies and the individual creators that work with them are critically dependent on having strong copyright laws in place around the world and having those laws effectively enforced. On average, the copyright industries generate over 50% of their revenue from outside the U.S., contributing over $89 billion in exports and foreign sales to the U.S. economy. Given the overwhelming global demand for the products of America’s creative industries, all these numbers would be significantly higher if those trading partners, including China, that continue to allow piracy to flourish in their own economies were to significantly reduce piracy rates by enforcing their copyright law vigorously. > Before turning to the important topic of this Roundtable, I want to provide you with a brief update to IIPA’s comprehensive February 2005 Special 301 submission on China to the U.S. Trade Representative. In that submission we called for entering into a new, multilateral dialogue in the WTO with the Chinese government as a way to persuade it to take aggressive action – as promised in the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade Meetings over one year ago – to significantly reduce the rate of piracy in all IPR sectors including the copyright sector. We then provided a summary review of what had happened in China over the last year to redeem that commitment. Our conclusion: China has failed to comply with its commitment made over one year ago in the JCCT to significantly reduce piracy rates. While some modest reductions have occurred in some sectors, by no measure have piracy rates been significantly reduced. In fact little has changed in the marketplace for our members and their companies, despite reports of increased raiding activity and seizures of many pirate products. For the record, I am submitting a copy of that Special 301 submission which tells the story of the failure of an enforcement system to deter rampant piracy in the potentially largest market in the world. > On April 29, 2005, USTR issued its decision resulting from the out-of-cycle review of China’s enforcement practices announced on May 3, 2004. USTR reflected in this decision its deep concern over China’s lack of progress in the enforcement area by elevating China to the Priority Watch List. It also announced a number of other initiatives, one of which was to work closely with our industries with an eye on utilizing WTO procedures to bring China into compliance with its WTO obligations. Since that time we have met with USTR to begin this process and will work intensively with USTR toward the mutual goal of bringing China into compliance with its WTO TRIPS obligations, its bilateral obligations to the U.S. in the 1995 and 1996 IPR agreement and action plan, and its commitments made to our government in the JCCT process. This process has now commenced in earnest. USTR will also be seeking information from the Chinese government under the transparency provisions of the TRIPS agreement, and is committed to using the JCCT process to encourage the Chinese government to implement key reforms on both the enforcement and the all-important market access front. Mr. Chairman, our industries are deeply frustrated by the lack of real progress by China in taking effective action to deter piracy and to open up its market to legitimate cultural and high technology copyright products. China remains one of the most closed markets in the world for the U.S. copyright industries. Onerous market access restrictions affect all our industries. Notwithstanding Premier Wen’s pledge to address the $162 billion trade imbalance between the U.S. and China by increasing China’s imports from the U.S., China is retaining – and, in some sectors, augmenting – market access restrictions for creative and high-tech products that represent America’s comparative advantage. Copyright piracy represents perhaps the largest barrier to effective market access in China. An average (and truly staggering) 90% piracy rate has persisted for years despite repeated “strike hard” enforcement campaigns, steamroller campaigns, and public statements from many high level government officials supporting stronger enforcement. While our Special 301 submission highlights the current situation in China, I wanted to give you a brief flavor of what copyright companies confront in trying to do business in China in face of these trade barriers and these inexcusably high piracy levels. > Taking the business software industry first – one of our nation’s most productive and important creative sectors: The software industry faces piracy rates in China of 90%, one of the highest in the world for that industry. China leads the world in the production and export of counterfeit software – software packages that are purposely designed to replicate the original legitimate product. Losses to U.S. software publishers were estimated by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) at $1.47 billion in 2004. China was the 6th largest market in the world for personal computers and ranked 26th in legitimate software sales. This increasing disparity not only damages the U.S. industry but hurts Chinese software developers as well. China has failed to criminalize the most damaging type of piracy to the business software industry – the unauthorized use of software within businesses and government institutions. This is a violation of the TRIPS Agreement. Combined with the total absence of a criminal remedy is the absence of all but a few /administrative/ actions against this type of piracy with woefully low and non-deterrent fines. As a consequence, piracy rates continue to remain at staggering levels. To make matters worse, China is on the verge of shutting down access for U.S. and other foreign companies to the largest purchaser of software in China: the Chinese government. It would accomplish this by adopting draft government procurement regulations that would expressly favor Chinese software only. In short, the situation for this critical copyright sector is truly dire in China with no significant improvement in sight. > The U.S. motion picture industry is facing a 95% piracy rate in China (the highest in the Asia Pacific region, and among the highest in the world) which represents a worsening of the situation from the previous year. Losses to just the motion picture industry, from 1998 through 2004, are estimated at over $1 billion (not including losses from Internet piracy, which are growing alarmingly). While raids and seizures have increased somewhat following Vice Premier Wu Yi’s 2004 enforcement campaign, administrative fines remain far too low to deter pirate activity and, as I will describe later, criminal cases have been extremely rare despite Chinese promises to use this TRIPS-required remedy. According to a recent newspaper report, the legitimate home video market in China represents about 5% of the estimated total market of $1.3 billion (which is itself a very conservative estimate). Of the 83 optical disc factories licensed by the government (and an unknown number of “underground” unlicensed plants), many continue to churn out pirate DVDs. The export of pirated home video product, which had slowed to a trickle after the U.S. Section 301 action (and threatened retaliation) in 1995-96, has resumed and is growing. The total optical disk plant production capacity, a significant amount of which is devoted to producing pirate product, is now close to 2.7 billion units annually. Optical disks sourced in China and containing pirated films have been seized in over 25 countries around the world. The massive quantity of pirated movie product available in China is evidenced by the fact that pirate prices start around $0.60 per unit the lowest price in Asia. As with the other copyright industries, any enforcement that occurs is conducted by administrative agencies, with overlapping jurisdiction and often little coordination, and fines imposed are a mere “cost of doing business.” A recent anecdotal study, conducted by IIPA member, the Motion Picture Association (MPA), revealed that the average fine imposed per pirate home video product (DVD, VCD) seized in raids resulting from MPA complaints is only slightly higher than the cost of purchasing a blank disk – clearly of no deterrent value. The lack of deterrent administrative penalties is a key reason, in addition to the almost complete lack of criminal enforcement that piracy rates persist at 90% of the market and above. > Accompanying and reinforcing this piracy situation are onerous market access restrictions, including a Government-owned, monopoly importer, very limited competition in distribution, and a quota of 20 theatrical films allowed into China annually on commercial terms. The pirates capture 100% of the market for films not permitted legally in China. Even those films permitted theatrical release suffer piracy rates of 70-75%, because of the long delays before most American films are given screen time. Another consequence of the lack of competition in importation and distribution is the non-competitive pricing in the Chinese market. Cumbersome licensing requirements burdens the retail sale of legal home entertainment product, holding down revenue potential and helping keep the market in the hands of the pirates. These barriers and those to all our industries must be removed in the JCCT process. > The entertainment software industry, one of the fastest growing copyright-based industries, faces similar high piracy rates and estimates the value of pirated videogames in the market at $510 million in 2004. Demand for entertainment software products is growing rapidly but is being soaked up primarily by the pirates. This demand is exemplified by the exploding popularity of “massively multiplayer online roleplaying games” (MMORPGs) where literally thousands of players can compete against one another simultaneously. Demand for MMORPGs in China grew at 40-45% over expectations in 2004. This increasing demand has fueled, in part, the growth of Internet cafés in China. (It is estimated that there are close to 200,000 Internet cafes in the country, with a seating capacity of between 100-300 seats, of which 60% are involved in game play.) While U.S. game publishers, represented by IIPA member, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), have engaged in some licensing of the cafes, the vast majority of the product used is pirated, either available at the café or downloadable from the Internet. This dire situation has been all the more exasperating since the Chinese government extensively regulates the activities of these Internet cafes and often and vigorously revokes licenses for actions the government deems inappropriate. However, as far as we know, the government has never sought to include in this extensive regulatory scheme prohibitions against the widespread and blatant piracy at these cafes in its business licenses (which are otherwise very thorough). Moreover, no copyright enforcement of any kind has occurred. The legal infrastructure governing the Internet still is not helpful to copyright enforcement. Takedown of pirate sites is negligible; penalties non-existent. > Cartridge-based handheld games are also hard hit by the pirates with manufacturing and assembly operations throughout China with exports throughout Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe. Enforcement attempts have been relatively successful in terms of raids and seizures but, like with other industries, administrative fines are non-deterrent and criminal enforcement action very rarely undertaken, even against factories generating millions of dollars in illicit profits. Entertainment software products are also subject to a protracted content review process, by two separate agencies contributing to market entry delays. Given the immediate nature of the demand and lifecycle of best selling games, this leaves the pirates virtually uncontested in the market prior to the official release of a new title. There are also Internet and investment restrictions that must be significantly eased or abolished. > The U.S. book publishing industry, represented by IIPA member, the Association of American Publishers (AAP), faces both significant offset printing of pirated books, primarily in translated editions, and massive commercial photocopying of textbooks and reference books on and near University campuses. There are 580 licensed state-owned publishers in China, 50 of which are considered major. There are only a few privately owned publishers but they must buy publishing rights from the state-owned publishers. U.S. publishers issued 4500 translation licenses in 2004, a significant number but far below China’s potential. All the best selling books are then virtually immediately pirated by outlaw “printers” and made available through independent bookstores, stalls and street vendors. To give an example, the famous self-help bestseller “Who Moved My Cheese” sold over 3 million copies in China. It is estimated, however, that the pirates sold another /6 million/ copies. The Harry Potter books, and other best sellers like Hilary and Bill Clinton’s books “Living History” and “My Life,” John Grisham’s books and others all face a similar fate from the pirates. Former General Electric President, Jack Welch’s biography, “Winning,” has sold over 800,000 copies but with an equal number of pirate copies available in the market. English language textbooks are also heavily photocopied in their entirety and there are six known websites which make available entire copies of textbooks that are downloaded and then photocopied. Enforcement against this vast piracy is spotty and all done administratively through the local and national copyright bureaus. Any resulting administrative fines are non-deterrent. We know of no criminal enforcement. The book publishing industry also faces market access barriers – U.S. publishers are not permitted to publish, sign authors, or print their books in China. The recording industry, represented by IIPA member, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) did experience a minor reduction in the piracy rate for sound recordings, from 90% in 2003 to 85% in 2004 in “hard goods” piracy, but with significant increases in Internet piracy. Losses remain in excess of $200 million per year from continued optical disk manufacture and distribution within the Chinese market and significant levels of audiocassette piracy (still an important format in China). The recording industry faces many of the same problems with optical disk piracy confronting the motion picture industry. Millions of pirated music CDs are readily available throughout China. Some of these pirate products have found their way into the export market. China continues to rely on its failed administrative enforcement system, which relies on numerous inspections, product seizures and, when the pirate doesn’t flee, the imposition of small, non-deterrent fines. > Internet piracy in China, as in other countries in the world, has become a huge problem for the recording industry. Thousands of active websites such as www.9sky.com and www.chinaMP3.com are giving away, or offering links to, thousands of pirated songs. (These not-for-profit acts of piracy are not criminalized in China, as they are, for example, in the U.S.). International criminal syndicates are apparently using Chinese servers to hide their illicit activity (www.boxup.com) and many Asian pirate sites are doing a thriving business in China, such as www.kuro.com from Taiwan. Market access restrictions are severe, contributing to piracy and market losses. U.S. record companies cannot “publish” or release a recording without permission of a state owned company and cannot manufacture, distribute or engage in retailing of its products, which artificially segments the market and makes it extraordinarily difficult for this world class industry to participate in the Chinese market. Its products are subject to censorship while domestic (as well as pirate) recordings are not – a national treatment violation. All in all, the copyright industries estimate their total losses in excess of $2.5 billion in 2004 due to piracy in China. The simple fact remains that these losses and the 90% piracy rates will NOT be significantly reduced without subjecting major piracy to criminal enforcement accompanied by deterrent penalties and substantially increasing the administrative fines specified in the copyright law and imposing them in practice. To date, even after the JCCT commitments, this has NOT happened and there is a real question whether the Chinese government as a whole (Vice Premier Wu Yi has been a staunch defender of better enforcement) can muster the political will to take these absolutely necessary actions – actions that have been key to significant reductions in piracy levels in other countries in which our companies operate. China cannot exempt itself from the rules – that enforcement against piracy requires deterrence and criminal remedies. The global community recognized this when it fashioned the Article 61 criminal obligation in TRIPS and it has proven to be the case in practice. The Commission has asked the key question that has trouble everyone associated with China’s IPR regime: “Will China ever enforce its IPR laws.” The article in the Far Eastern Economic Review,^^1 provided to us by the staff, sets out the interesting thesis that this failure has nothing to do with “stages of development” or “cultural attitudes.” We completely agree. These shibboleths have regularly been argued to excuse China (and other countries) from meeting their freely bargained-for WTO obligations. In fact, other countries have similar “cultural attitudes” and are at or near China’s development level and they have done a far better job bringing deterrence to their copyright enforcement system thereby reducing piracy rates. Piracy is an economic crime and responds to economic disincentives placed in the pirates’ way by an effective, deterrent enforcement system. If the risk is too high, the conduct will cease or be substantially reduced. The authors also set out the view that Chinese government control over its economy and the “command” nature of the government’s involvement contains built in incentives to continue to /permit/ infringements as a way of protecting tottering state-owned enterprises. We have no expert view on this but observe that China has sought to preserve the import and distribution monopolies that are pervasive in the copyright sector. The thesis seems to apply more, however, to the patent and trademark areas of IP protection, rather than to copyright, where it is becoming clearer to us at least that the harm from copyright piracy is falling increasingly on Chinese creators and Chinese companies (some rather large too). These companies, because they are either state-owned (and find it difficult to confront their own government for its failures), or are private (and the government, like many governments in developing economies, are not yet responsive to the entreaties of their private sector) face a governmental response that derives primarily from internal bureaucratic needs, first and foremost. An illustration might be the apparent unwillingness of the Chinese authorities to lower the thresholds for initiating a criminal prosecution so that they become workable in practice (a result not accomplished in our opinion in the new Judicial Interpretations issued in December 2004) and to follow with criminal prosecutions and deterrent penalties. The reason given is that bringing more criminal cases would risk overwhelming the enforcement bureaucracy. However, many other governments face this same potential argument and have nevertheless determined that criminal enforcement is a necessary condition to reducing piracy (as well as being a WTO obligation). Furthermore, we should not underestimate the problem that the central government faces in controlling what happens at the provincial level. We believe, however, that, through the Politburo and the Party structure, this impediment can be overcome, if the political will is there. It may be that such political will CAN be generated if the proper “incentives” are there. An example of this would be when the Chinese government (at the highest “political” level), in 1996-97, closed many of the CD factories that were exporting pirate optical disk product globally under threat of U.S. trade retaliation. Regardless of the reasons why the Chinese government has not, at least yet, decided to take deterrent criminal actions against major acts of piracy (as required by TRIPS), to make necessary amendments to its criminal law (as required by TRIPS), to further amend its Judicial Interpretations to reduce the hurdles to effective criminal prosecutions, and to increase administrative penalties and impose them at deterrent levels, they are nevertheless under an international obligation (in the WTO), and a bilateral obligation (under the 1995-1996 bilateral agreement settling the Section 301 case) to do so. Moreover, it is not in China’s own interest to undermine its own domestic creative industry and to continue to foster trade friction with its key trading partners. Other governments in the Asian region have made the political determination that effective enforcement is in that country’s own interest. China must do the same and do so NOW. Thank you very much for the opportunity to participate in this Roundtable. *Notes:* 1. Anne Stevenson -Yang and Ken DeWoskin, China Destroys the IP Paradigm, Far Eastern Economic Review (March 2005) From lawrence at altlawforum.org Thu Jun 16 17:10:36 2005 From: lawrence at altlawforum.org (Lawrence Liang) Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2005 17:10:36 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Survey of Open content usage in South Asia Message-ID: Hi all I am ding a small survey on use of open content projects in South Asia , and the definition of open content includes works that allow for derivation. Will post my results on the lists as well, do let me know of any projects that you are aware to ensure that I don miss out. Lawrence From srinivas at southcentre.org Fri Jun 17 14:17:57 2005 From: srinivas at southcentre.org (srinivas at southcentre.org) Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2005 10:47:57 +0200 Subject: [Commons-Law] Of Gandhi , Beef and Logo In-Reply-To: <20050616100008.1137428D960@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050617/asp/nation/story_4877976.asp K.Ravi Srinivas Post Doctoral Fellow IPR Policy Research & Development Program South Centre 17-19 Chemin Du Champ d'Anier 1209 Petit Saconnex Geneva Switzerland Postal Address K.Ravi Srinivas South Centre CP 228 1211 Geneva 19 Switzerland Tel: +41 22 791 81 67 Fax: +41 22 798 85 31 email: srinivas at southcentre.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050617/152251ef/attachment.html From tahir.amin at btopenworld.com Fri Jun 17 14:51:16 2005 From: tahir.amin at btopenworld.com (TAHIR AMIN) Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2005 10:21:16 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Commons-Law] Coming to a hard disk near you - Guardian Message-ID: <20050617092116.16825.qmail@web86110.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Coming to a hard disk near you You may never have heard of BitTorrent, but it made the latest Star Wars movie available six hours before its official release, it can get you 24 or the OC months before they're on TV and it accounts for a third of all internet traffic. No wonder the entertainment industry has declared it public enemy number one. By Simon Waldman Friday June 17, 2005 The Guardian The FBI doesn't like it. The Department of Homeland Security is so concerned that it has closed down websites related to it. The Moving Picture Association of America is waging a war against it. And every day millions of people around the world use it to share music, TV programmes and movies. The "it" is BitTorrent - a computer program that's the brainchild of the softly-spoken Bram Cohen. It is a super-smart way to share huge files over the internet, and one which, depending on whose side of the argument you listen to, is either an evil tool for those involved with copyright theft, or a work of genius set to transform the media industry as we know it. Recent research has shown that, last year, BitTorrent was responsible for one third of all traffic on the internet. That's one third. And this despite a wave of legal activity against the peer-to-peer technology (P2P) that underpins Cohen's brainchild. In essence, BitTorrent is just the latest in a line of programs that started with Napster and allows individuals to swap information with each other over the internet. An OECD report on digital music released this week revealed that at any one time there are as many as 10 million people exchanging files using all forms of P2P. Business Week has estimated that the total number of users could be as high as 100 million. BitTorrent has become more popular than its competition because it is much more efficient. Systems such as Napster and Kazaa often used to grind to a halt because the files that were being shared sat on one computer, and could only be downloaded as quickly as the lines going in and out of that computer would allow. Cohen's idea was to break the files up into bits. Once someone downloaded a bit, they also became a source for that bit. As a result, more people downloading a file meant there were also more people uploading it, which meant it actually became faster rather than slower. Originally intended for software developers to move their work around the net, it wasn't long before BitTorrent became popular with music and video fans. This shouldn't have come as much of a surprise: instead of people simply swapping songs of around 3-4 megabytes, using BitTorrent they could swap whole movies of about 500 times bigger (1.5 gigabytes). And swap they do. Anything and everything digital is shared. Legal and illegal. People gather on sites where they can download files or "torrents", which they then run on their own computer using special software. If you have a broadband connection and can set it all up (and you need to be reasonably technically competent to do so), you can download an album in an hour; an hour's worth of TV in a couple of hours; and a movie overnight. A quick word of caution here: first, downloading copyright material is illegal. Second, setting it up is quite fiddly. If you are the sort of person hell-bent on watching the latest Star Wars film while it is still officially only available in the cinema, you will find it much easier to buy it on DVD from the dodgy bloke carrying a bin bag around your local pub. Needless to say, the advent of torrent sharing is not making the movie industry happy - and, like the recording industry before it, the response is lawsuit-shaped. The Motion Picture Association of America - the organisation that has been most vehemently against the growth of BitTorrent - has, until now, focused its attention not on BitTorrent itself, but on sites that allow the downloading of torrents. One such site was EliteTorrents.org. It was here that around 100,000 people a day would gather to get the latest files, and it was also here that the final instalment of Star Wars, Revenge of the Sith, appeared - six hours before it was due to open in US cinemas. On May 28, officers from the FBI swooped on a number of homes and offices across the US in what was called operation D-Elite. Within hours, the site was no more. If you go to EliteTorrents.org today, you will find that its sleek grey design replaced by the logos of the FBI and the US Department of Homeland Security alongside a bold announcement: "This site has been permanently shut down by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Individuals involved in the operation and use of the Elite Torrents network are under investigation for criminal copyright infringement." Dan Glickman the president of the MPAA declared the closure of EliteTorrents was "bad news for internet movie thieves and good news for preserving the magic of the movies". It's fair to say that the movie industry is rarely first in line for a sympathy vote. It claims that piracy costs it $3.5bn (£1.9bn) a year, a figure that doesn't include the losses from internet file sharing. However, the very thing that lays behind the dramatic increase in piracy - the arrival of the DVD - has also brought the industry some quite spectacular dividends. The DVD market in the US last year was worth $21.2bn (£11.6bn); with the retail market alone up year on year by 33%. And it continues to grow every year. The precise impact of P2P on sales is also a moot point. While the industry believes it has a detrimental affect, this week's report from the OECD on digital music admitted that "digital piracy may be an important impediment to the success of legitimate online content markets", but "it is difficult to establish a basis to prove a causal relationship between the 20% fall in overall revenues experienced by the music industry between 1999 and 2003." The other debate is whether BitTorrent itself (and, by extension, Cohen) is responsible for piracy. No one is arguing whether or not copyright infringement happens, but whether by banning the software that allows it you are also stifling a new and exciting technology. At the moment, the US supreme court is making its mind up in the case of MGM v Grokster - where the issue is whether a piece of software itself can be held responsible for the piracy that is committed using it. The landmark case in this area, goes back to 1984 when the movie industry tried to kill off the video recorder. The defendant back then was Sony which now, as a studio owner, finds itself on the other side of the divide. Whatever develops in the courts, it is clear that BitTorrent offers much more than movie piracy; it might change the future of TV too. One of the most popular uses of torrent technology is to allow people to watch whatever TV they want when they want it. The latest episodes of major US TV series normally appear on Torrent sites almost immediately after they have been broadcast. This is an unofficial version of video-on-demand: something that has been promised for the best part of a decade by broadcasters but has never been delivered. Thanks to BitTorrent, however, it is available here and now and free. In this world the traditional restrictions of schedules and broadcasting territories disappear. You want to watch the latest OC, 24, or Desperate Housewives months before it arrives in the UK? No problem. You're addicted to Comedy Central's the Daily Show, but don't subscribe to Cable? It's all yours. One site, UK Nova, specialises in providing TV programmes to those who can't get them because they are outside the UK. It started as an informal way for a small gang of expat EastEnders addicts to get their daily fix and now, a year later, has a global community of 30,000 people swapping all sorts of new and vintage programming - from Jamie Oliver to Are You Being Served?. Roger, one of the site's moderators - a British expat living in Germany - stresses that they are providing a service to people who simply can't get these programmes - and they are keen not to do anything to damage the broadcasters' commercial interests. They automatically remove anything that is released on DVD, for example. "If there was a legal service that allowed us to do this," he says, "we'd happily pay for it." And it just so happens that there is at least one in the offing. The BBC is currently trialing its interactive media player (iMP) with hundreds of hours of BBC video made available for download over the internet up to a week after its original broadcast. IMP itself uses a form of P2P software to allow the files to be downloaded. But as its technology is adapted, copied and improved, perhaps the greatest legacy of BitTorrent will not be as a way for major broadcasters, record labels and movie studios to distribute their goods. Instead, by reducing the cost of online distribution to almost zero, it allows anyone to have a global audience. For example, one site, LegalTorrents, offers links to a wide range of music and video from creators who are happy to have their work distributed on the net. You won't find Star Wars there or Mr and Mrs Smith, but you will find The Meaty McMeat Show a "completely insane 99-minute-long animated movie that involves a diseased human organ and his colleague who travel back in time to meet a psychic talking pie". And how can any technology that allows such a masterpiece to be seen around the world be all bad? · Simon Waldman is director of digital publishing at Guardian Unlimited --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger NEW - crystal clear PC to PCcalling worldwide with voicemail -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050617/6a8486fb/attachment.html From shivamvij at gmail.com Sat Jun 18 01:12:26 2005 From: shivamvij at gmail.com (shivam) Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 01:12:26 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Re: Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits In-Reply-To: References: <20050614210515.CE0AE28DED0@mail.sarai.net> <20050615082929.GG72357@xs4all.nl> Message-ID: One more thing, Patrice. Lalu Yadav's rationale for replacing plastic cups with clay ones in trains was that it would help potters - and not that lay cups symbolise Dalit oppression. Shivam On 6/15/05, shivam wrote: > > He's not. He's in the category of "Other Backward Castes" or OBC's. They > are the 'middle' castes and are known to be in conflict - politically, > socially, violently - with Dalits. The classical story-bok Brahmin-Dalit > conflict is not the dominant discourse. This is why Mulayam Singh and > Mayawati are rivals despite both of them being opponents of the casteism. > > shivam > On 6/15/05, Patrice Riemens wrote: > > Is Railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav a Dalit? (just curious) > > ;-) > > cheers, patrizio & Diiiinoooos! (keep clay cups at home - as souvenirs) -- I poured reason in two wine glasses Raised one above my head And poured in into my life (-JD) www.shivamvij.com From anivar.aravind at gmail.com Sat Jun 18 09:17:27 2005 From: anivar.aravind at gmail.com (Anivar Aravind) Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 09:17:27 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Web archives of Indian Literature In-Reply-To: References: <28680788.1118841443624.JavaMail.kebi@ccmail> <35f96d4705061521225f4b5a49@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <35f96d4705061720471e8792eb@mail.gmail.com> Can anyone help him ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Manish Date: 17-Jun-2005 10:52 Hi, I am exploring the option of puting the indian literature on the web and making it available free of cost. My searches on google show that there is very little available and whatever is there is difficult to use. In this respect, I would like your assistance in following areas: 1. If you are willing to volunteer, let me know. 2. if you are willing to assist in anyother way (like arranging the hard copy of book etc), let me know. 3. I want to compile a list of all the indian books that can be put in the form of free e-text without violating the copyright law of the land. If someone has such a list, please post it here. 4. Let me know if similar efforts are going on somewhere else. 5. If someone knows the technological tools that could accelarate the process of making e-books from hardcopy, please post them here. I was wondering is there a software which converts scanned gif image of indian scripts into unicode? Regards Manish From thaths at gmail.com Sat Jun 18 09:22:16 2005 From: thaths at gmail.com (Thaths) Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 09:22:16 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Web archives of Indian Literature In-Reply-To: <35f96d4705061720471e8792eb@mail.gmail.com> References: <28680788.1118841443624.JavaMail.kebi@ccmail> <35f96d4705061521225f4b5a49@mail.gmail.com> <35f96d4705061720471e8792eb@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <1bc234630506172052604d03b2@mail.gmail.com> Manish, A friend of mine wrote a piece in The Hindu Literary Supplment a while ago on Indian (esp. Tamil) public domain literature. See: http://www.hindu.com/lr/2005/03/06/stories/2005030600010100.htm Subash is Cc-ed in this email. Thaths On 6/18/05, Anivar Aravind wrote: > Can anyone help him > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Manish > Date: 17-Jun-2005 10:52 > > Hi, > > I am exploring the option of puting the indian literature on the web > and making it available free of cost. My searches on google show that > there is very little available and whatever is there is difficult to > use. In this respect, I would like your assistance in following areas: > > 1. If you are willing to volunteer, let me know. > 2. if you are willing to assist in anyother way (like arranging the > hard copy of book etc), let me know. > 3. I want to compile a list of all the indian books that can be put in > the form of free e-text without violating the copyright law of the > land. If someone has such a list, please post it here. > 4. Let me know if similar efforts are going on somewhere else. > 5. If someone knows the technological tools that could accelarate the > process of making e-books from hardcopy, please post them here. I was > wondering is there a software which converts scanned gif image of > indian scripts into unicode? > > > Regards > Manish > _______________________________________________ > commons-law mailing list > commons-law at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/commons-law > -- "Good things don't end in -eum; they end in -mania or -teria" -- Homer J. Simpson From paivakil at yahoo.co.in Sat Jun 18 10:06:16 2005 From: paivakil at yahoo.co.in (Mahesh T. Pai) Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 10:06:16 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Web archives of Indian Literature In-Reply-To: <35f96d4705061720471e8792eb@mail.gmail.com> References: <28680788.1118841443624.JavaMail.kebi@ccmail> <35f96d4705061521225f4b5a49@mail.gmail.com> <35f96d4705061720471e8792eb@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20050618043616.GB10998@home.wki> Anivar Aravind said on Sat, Jun 18, 2005 at 09:17:27AM +0530,: > I am exploring the option of puting the indian literature on the web > and making it available free of cost. My searches on google show that > there is very little available and whatever is there is difficult to > use. In this respect, I would like your assistance in following areas: Kindly have a look at project Gutenberg - www.gutenberg.org -- Mahesh T. Pai <<>> http://paivakil.port5.com A Bus Station is where a bus stops. A Train Station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a Work Station. From paivakil at yahoo.co.in Sat Jun 18 10:07:24 2005 From: paivakil at yahoo.co.in (Mahesh T. Pai) Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 10:07:24 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Re: Clay Cups-Trade Mark-Dalits In-Reply-To: References: <20050614210515.CE0AE28DED0@mail.sarai.net> <20050615082929.GG72357@xs4all.nl> Message-ID: <20050618043724.GC10998@home.wki> shivam said on Sat, Jun 18, 2005 at 01:12:26AM +0530,: > cups with clay ones in trains was that it would help potters - and not > that lay cups symbolise Dalit oppression. And that they were more environment frienly, IIRC. -- Mahesh T. Pai <<>> http://paivakil.port5.com Free software is the only field where a person can go from naiveté, to the state of the art, in everything that a particular field contains, solely by reading material that is universally available at no cost everywhere the network exists. -- Eben Moglen. From mayur at sarai.net Sat Jun 18 16:33:36 2005 From: mayur at sarai.net (mayur at sarai.net) Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 13:03:36 +0200 (CEST) Subject: [Commons-Law] Creative Commons: Making copyright work for democracy Message-ID: <2360.221.134.48.175.1119092616.squirrel@mail.sarai.net> Creative Commons: Making copyright work for democracy Siva Vaidhyanathan openDemocracy.net has taken a major step toward enriching global democratic discussion by adopting Creative Commons licences for its articles. Practically, the use of these licences grant participating openDemocracy authors (including myself) more control over how their works will echo through the world of digital text. They will encourage free republication and dissemination of their articles in non-commercial media across the globe. Ideologically, the fact that this respected publication has opted in to the Creative Commons message makes a profound statement about the importance of openness and the dangers of a culture of excessive ownership. The articles on openDemocracy deserve to be circulated and used in more than one context. They can be rich resources and raw materials for further scholarship, criticism, and journalism. Their authors often inspire new ways of doing politics. By joining openDemocracy in the Creative Commons, they inspire new ways of sharing and developing knowledge too. Democracy, like culture itself, must be a collaborative project. Sadly, this symbol © and the phrase “all rights reserved” has come to dominate our cultural markets and practices. Culture and information are closed and owned by default, and the reuse of words, sounds, images and ideas always require explicit permission from some owner (even if that owner is impossible to identify). Not long ago, any suggestion of a “cultural commons” seemed archaic and sadly comic, like romantic poetry or the American labour movement. No more. Now we have principles and tools to profess and deploy, thanks to Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig, the chief founder of the Creative Commons project. Concerned with the proliferation of what he calls “permission culture”, and inspired by the success of “open source” models of communal creativity in the software field, Lessig decided he had to move from being a critic to a creator. He had to build something great. In a remarkably short time, he has. “Permission culture” refers to the stifling effect of restrictive copyright on new cultural and intellectual productions. It developed so quickly and silently we hardly noticed it, thanks to blind faith in neo-liberalism and market fundamentalism. In just 20 years, copyright changed from being a right designed primarily for authors, artists, and creators to being a tool managed and leveraged by copyright owners – usually big media companies run by ‘uncreatives’ – to maintain monopoly control over their back catalogues. These companies captured and corrupted copyright to serve their narrow, short-term interests. The law lost sight of its public purpose: to encourage creativity for the next generation, not preserve the domination of the previous. By default, copyright in America and across the world became “all rights reserved”, which means that even in the absence of a clear statement of ownership, people who want to build on or play with a creation have to expect legal blowback. Over time, this has generated a chilling effect among creators, especially musicians and composers. The growing rebellion against “permission culture” was until recently unsophisticated, immature, inarticulate and largely negative. Those of us who warned of the costs to democratic culture and the culture of democracy were chided for being “against copyright” or worse, “against capitalism”. We needed something to be for. We needed a new set of tools that could both demonstrate how we think culture and democracy must work and make a clear political statement about the absurdity of recent trends toward absolute control. Fortunately Lessig and others had been struck by the pragmatic value and astounding success of the Free and Open Source Software movements (together known as FOSS). FOSS resists proprietary control over information and thus innovation by using the masters’ tools against him: copyright itself. Copyright allows holders to license specific uses and elements as the holder sees fit. So one of the terms of a licence could be to demand that all “downstream uses” reflect the terms of the original licence. In other words, the licence could “lock open” the content and all subsequent uses of the content. “Some rights” could be reserved if the author chose to. This principle, exemplified by Richard Stallman’s brilliant “General Public License (GPL)” is the key to the success of FOSS. It ensures that while many proprietary interests may use and benefit from open source software, none may capture it for themselves. With hundreds of volunteer authors and editors, the FOSS projects tend to be better and cheaper than comparable proprietary software. And as more people and firms recognise the quality inherent in the model and practice, openness spreads. Lessig figured the same model could work with culture. His team of lawyers devised a series of customisable licence terms that could be understood and adopted by musicians and video artists, documentarians, and bloggers. Within the first year of the launch of the Creative Commons, thousands of tech-savvy and critically minded netizens adopted Creative Commons licences for their Web projects. Soon others began placing the licence terms on printed material, often alarming traditional publishers, but initiating some important conversations. In perhaps its biggest splash, Wired Magazine offered a free CD of Creative Commons music in its November 2004 issue. The disc contained works from artists such as David Byrne, Gilberto Gil and the Beastie Boys. The next generation of artists is free to sample and play with the sounds that these brilliant and established creators have released under Creative Commons licences. In early 2005 the world’s second biggest search engine, Yahoo, launched a Creative Commons search engine, which serves up any article, website or image which you are free to recycle. By using this, or the Creative Commons search tool integrated in the popular Firefox browser, artists may discover a wealth of content they can build upon or sample freely to make new, cool stuff. Beyond Creative Commons itself, we have witnessed the gestation of a global civil society movement that is pushing back against the information and cultural enclosure movement of the past 20 years. Much of the conversation at the last World Social Forum at Porto Allegre, Brazil surrounded ways to liberate the cultural commons and protect local knowledge from corporate exploitation. Brazil’s Minister of Culture, the great singer and musician Gilberto Gil, is one of the champions of Creative Commons and open, creolized practices of creativity. In addition to this important move by openDemocracy.net, the British Broadcasting Corporation has opted to release elements of its rich archive of materials for open public re-use under terms and conditions that resemble Creative Commons but do not employ the specific licences and are somewhat more restrictive. With openDemocracy offering the greater portion of its content under CC licences, the Creative Commons has clearly gone global. Since its inception openDemocracy has set the standard for engaged, accessible and informed deliberation of issues of global importance. Now it is truly both open and democratic. This article is published by Siva Vaidhyanathan, and openDemocracy.net under a Creative Commons licence. You may republish it free of charge with attribution for non-commercial purposes following these guidelines. Additionally, you are permitted to make derivative works from this article, on condition that you release any resulting work under similar terms. If you teach at a university we ask that your department make a donation. Commercial media must contact us for permission and fees. Some articles on this site are published under different terms. From prashant at nalsartech.org Sun Jun 19 10:35:24 2005 From: prashant at nalsartech.org (Prashant Iyengar) Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 10:35:24 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] LAUNCH OF FREE HINDI SOFTWARE TOOLS AND FONTS BY DIT Message-ID: <20050619103524.5txxoarotcm8ggww@www.nalsartech.org> ----- Forwarded message from sachdeva_sameer at yahoo.co.in ----- Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 14:32:02 -0000 From: Sameer Sachdeva Reply-To: India-egov at yahoogroups.com Subject: [India-egov] LAUNCH OF FREE HINDI SOFTWARE TOOLS AND FONTS BY DIT To: India-egov at yahoogroups.com Saturday, June 18, 2005 Ministry of Communications & Information Technology LAUNCH OF FREE HINDI SOFTWARE TOOLS AND FONTS BY DIT - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---------- 15:22 IST As a landmark in the series of release of Software Tools and Fonts in various Indian languages that are contemplated, the Department of Information Technology (DIT), will make available free tools and fonts to the public distribution upon registration on the designated website. Keeping in view the far reaching initiative of the DIT as also to bring about Language Computing technology revolution in the country, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson, National Advisory Council will launch release of Free CD containing rich collection of Hindi Software Tools and Fonts to the public on Monday, here in the presence of Shri Dayanidhi Maran, Minister of Communications & Information Technology and Dr. Shakeel Ahmad, Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology. Smt. Gandhi will also launch the website which would provide free distribution on-line, upon registration by the net surfer at the designated website. The contents of the free CD include the following software and their contributors also: · Hindi Language True Type Fonts with Keyboard Driver - C-DAC, Modular Infotech, Cyber Scape Multimedia, C.K. Technogies and Softview · Hindi Language Multifont Keyboard Engine for True Type Fonts - Cyber Scape Multimedia · Hindi Language Unicode Compliant Open Type Fonts - C-DAC, Modular Infotech, Cyber Scape, CAD Graf Digital System Ltd. · Hindi Language Unicode Compliant Keyboard Driver - C-DAC · Generic Fonts Code and Storage Code Converter for Hindi - Priya Infomatech · Hindi Language Version of Bharateeya OO.o (Open Source) - C-DAC · Firefox – Browser in Hindi - C-DAC · GAIM – Multi Protocol Messenger in Hindi - C-DAC · Columba – Email Client in Hindi - C-DAC · Hindi OCR - C-DAC · Aasaan Typing Tutor for Hindi & English - C.K. Technologies · Integrated Word Processor - C-DAC · Dictionary English-Hindi - C-DAC · Hindi Language Spell Checker - C-DAC · Hindi Language Transliteration Tool - C-DAC · Hindi Language Text to Speech System - IIIT, Hyderabad, Prologix, Lucknow · Translation support system from English to Hindi through the website - IIT, Kanpur · Hindi Language Corpora over the website - C-DAC India is a unique multilingual country in the world with 22 constitutionally recognized languages and 1650 dialects. Of the languages, Hindi – spoken by a large population and as the official language - has a unique place. It is a language spoken in most states in northern and central India and is an Indo-European language, of the Indo-Aryan subfamily. Evolving from the Middle Indo-Aryan prakrit languages of the middle ages, and indirectly, from Sanskrit, Hindi derives a lot of its higher vocabulary from Sanskrit as well as a large number of words borrowed from Persian, Arabic and Turkish. Hindi is the second most spoken language in the world, after Chinese. Around 500 million people speak Hindi in India and abroad, and the total number of people who can understand the language is estimated to be around 800 million. According to a survey in 1997, 66% of all Indians can speak Hindi, and 77% of Indians regard Hindi as "one language across the nation". More than 180 million people in India regard Hindi as their mother tongue. Another 300 million use it as a second language. Use of computers in Indian languages is not new. Early emergence of tools, products and use in media date back to 80's. But widespread impact has been far too less and the market growth momentum inadequate. In this context, Department of Information Technology (DIT), Government of India thought it fit to commence a "language computing initiative" through the setting up of a committee in November, 2004. One of its early decisions was to aggregate "tools and fonts" from public and private players and release them for "free" public use creating a tremendous kick-start and momentum to the initiative. The work on Indian language computing is being carried out since the last two decades for a variety of tasks, including data processing, word processing, desk-top publishing and so on, on different platforms and operating systems. As less than 5% of the Indian population understands English, it becomes important to develop tools and software in Indian Languages for use by the larger section of people. Information technology in India has economic, developmental as well as social roles. In its economic role, it is a problem solving tool which through computing and information processing has a multiplier effect on the productivity of other sectors besides creation of employment and wealth creation from its own industry. C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) is an autonomous scientific society under the Administrative Control of Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications & Information Technology. Known for its PARAM series of supercomputers built since its inception in 1988, it has also been a pioneer in R&D, standards promotion, products development and deployment in language computing arena. In this initiative, it is partnered by a number of public (academia, R&D labs) and private players under the patronage of DIT. RM/AMA-180605 CD-Curtain Raiser The views are that of individuals. Neither moderator nor yahoo in anyway subscribe by the views expressed. For beyond e-governance http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/vision-india/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/India-egov/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: India-egov-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ - ----- End forwarded message ----- From karim at sarai.net Sun Jun 19 13:33:22 2005 From: karim at sarai.net (Aniruddha Shankar) Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 13:33:22 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Web archives of Indian Literature In-Reply-To: <35f96d4705061720471e8792eb@mail.gmail.com> References: <28680788.1118841443624.JavaMail.kebi@ccmail> <35f96d4705061521225f4b5a49@mail.gmail.com> <35f96d4705061720471e8792eb@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <42B526CA.6020003@sarai.net> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Anivar Aravind wrote: > Can anyone help him I suggest archive.org for archiving it - their goal, as told to me by someone was "infinite (hosting) space for free, forever". cheers, k -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.1 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFCtSbJhJkrd6A3rSsRAlG9AKCPE79H66IPaft/qHeaJBz/KWWvggCfW6Aa LVP+0IZj9eglKix15MVGo6s= =f0xK -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- From rajlakshmi_nesargi at yahoo.com Mon Jun 20 09:08:29 2005 From: rajlakshmi_nesargi at yahoo.com (Rajlakshmi Nesargi) Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 20:38:29 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Commons-Law] arguements, strategies and thoughts on Grokster case Message-ID: <20050620033829.16088.qmail@web51603.mail.yahoo.com> Supreme Court to rule on file-sharing By Kristi Heim http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002340896_grokster19.html Seattle Times business reporter The eyes of the technology and entertainment worlds are on the U.S. Supreme Court this week for a pivotal decision that could determine the future of music on the Internet. The decision on MGM v. Grokster, which could come as early as tomorrow, tackles the problem of illegal file sharing of songs and video over the Web, but its impact could be much broader. As more creative content goes digital, the case has far-reaching implications for consumers and companies across the country. At the heart of the case is a question: Should Grokster and other companies that provide technology be held responsible for the actions of people who use the technology? Rights holders — from movie studios to Major League Baseball — argue that the manufacturers of the technology should be held liable for protecting copyrights. Technology advocates and civil libertarians argue that manufacturers should not have the burden of controlling how their product will be used. "There should be some way of prohibiting so-called pirate services so copyright owners don't go bust," said Steve Gordon, an entertainment attorney and consultant who has written extensively on the issue. At the same time, he said, "You don't want to thwart new technologies from growing and expanding and helping the economy." Companies on both sides of the debate already have started to formulate strategies. For some, the outcome could make or break their business plans. Lining up on file sharing MGM v. Grokster has attracted supporting legal briefs from dozens of organizations, corporations and individuals. Here's a selected list. Supporting the Grokster position Computer science professors National Venture Capital Association Intel Group of Internet law professors Consumer Electronics Associations and other industry trade groups Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association and other telecom trade groups and corporations Consumer Federation of America and other consumer-advocacy organizations Musical artists American Conservative Union American Civil Liberties Union Supporting the MGM position Progress and Freedom Foundation U.S. Solicitor General's Office Business Software Alliance Law and economics professors Kids First Coalition, Christian Coalition of America and other groups Commissioner of Baseball, NBA, NFL and other groups Napster, Movielink and other Internet companies American Federation of Musicians and other trade groups National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences National Association of Broadcasters Neutral position Digital Media Association, Netcoalition and other industry groups Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah American Intellectual Property Law Association Audible Magic and other companies Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation Web site That's because the technology behind Grokster's software, called peer-to-peer, or P2P, has spread into all kinds of applications. Peer-to-peer networks enable files to be transferred directly from one computer to another through a decentralized setup that escapes easy control by a central source. This setup gives P2P enormous power because the software can find and share content — music and video — from one person's computer with the million other PCs on that network. Kirkland-based Laplink uses the technology in a software product that helps lawyers, doctors and business people share files. Laplink Chief Executive Thomas Koll says some of the arguments in the Grokster case give the useful and promising technology a bad name. "It's as if, through some of the debate, everyone doing peer-to-peer is criminalized," Koll said. "A lot of business-class peer-to-peer services offer a legitimate way of exchanging files that is very necessary to the world. We are all connected to the Internet, but not to each other. When businesses want to exchange data, the best way to do it is through peer-to-peer." Although he's watching the case closely, Koll doesn't think the court will restrict the sale of file-sharing products. "Then the printing presses would have to be prohibited because they print illegal material," he said. Encouraging lawbreakers? The film studios and recording companies are suing Grokster, which is registered in the West Indies, along with its cousin Morpheus, created by StreamCast Networks of Los Angeles. They claim Grokster's technology encourages illegal sharing of copyrighted works and should be shut down. A federal court forced song-trading site Napster to close four years ago, but then new services cropped up to let people share music files directly without going through a central database like the one Napster operated. As a result, millions of people can use Grokster software to download songs free from any other computer with Grokster, bypassing record-industry control. Courts have rejected MGM's arguments so far, upholding the 20-year-old Sony Betamax standard. Even though people could use the Betamax recorders for making unauthorized copies of movies, they could also use them for legitimate purposes, so a ban was not justified. That decision set the precedent for a host of new consumer-electronics products, from VCRs to personal computers with CD burners. Serving the industry In anticipating a court ruling that could change the legal landscape, the head of Seattle-based Loudeye says he's taking a two-pronged approach in promoting and protecting digital files. Loudeye encodes, stores and distributes music for its clients, including the five major record labels. Loudeye's technology allows third-party companies, such as Microsoft and its MSN Music, to set up their own digital music stores. Meanwhile, Loudeye is working on ways to drive more Web users to those sites, says President and CEO Michael Brochu. But, he says, "A lot of people are only going to take music if they can get it for free." Loudeye's other approach is to enhance anti-piracy protection through a separate service it sells to record labels. "If the court comes out and says P2P networks are legal," Brochu said, "we stay very focused on anti-piracy and shift more emphasis on protecting those files." Old system "dying" Record companies blame illegal file sharing over the Internet for decimating CD sales, now in a three-year decline. But the Internet itself is also forcing a tectonic shift in the way people are listening to music, watching videos and otherwise using media. The new models threaten the system that record companies have dominated for decades, says Seattle music producer Steve Fisk. The next album Fisk is helping produce for the band Harvey Danger will be available free on the Internet and later sold as a CD with extra tracks. "The minute you make a CD, you have to have a building with employees running around trying to sell that CD and trucks to transport the plastic disks all over the world," he said. "That's the system that's dying." Growing up through the cracks of the old system are new services like Weed, a tool for sharing files legally over peer networks created by Seattle-based Shared Media Licensing. WeedShare technology embedded in the file lets users download a song and listen to it three times for free. Most songs cost about $1.25 each. The artist earns 50 percent of every sale. When people who buy songs persuade others to buy them, they earn a commission of 20 percent. Weed collects 15 percent of each sale. Musician Roger Manning Jr. is selling his new album as a Weed file. He has earned $1,000 from sales over the past 2 ½ months, he said. While that amount is still tiny, the approach "puts control back into the hands of artists," he said. Manning has worked with four record companies over the past 10 years. But he says he makes more money selling music directly over the Internet. With a record contract, he'd have to sell half a million records to cover marketing costs and other expenses. Creative model The Weed model proves the value of creative solutions to the entrenched problem of unlicensed file sharing, said John Beezer, president of Shared Media Licensing. Beezer, a veteran of RealNetworks and Microsoft who ran Maria Cantwell's online senatorial campaign in 2000, started the company three years ago. Regardless of the Supreme Court decision, Beezer expects his company to endure because it has made friends on all sides. Weed works with P2P sites Morpheus and LimeWire, and it just inked its first deal with a major record label for online sales. Either way, Beezer thinks the peer-to-peer phenomenon can't be stopped. "You may as well outlaw the tide coming in," he said. "It's going to become much more important in the future, and anything that hampers it would be a huge mistake." "You must be the change you wish to see in the world. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win"-Mahatma Gandhi __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050619/41e02bb6/attachment.html From hbs.law at gmail.com Tue Jun 21 20:07:41 2005 From: hbs.law at gmail.com (Hasit seth) Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 07:37:41 -0700 Subject: [Commons-Law] Patent Absurdity....Richard Stallman Message-ID: <8b60429e050621073756be41c9@mail.gmail.com> EU legal affairs committee rejected quite a few amendments to the much opposed software patent directive. Richard M Stallman (RMS) has a piece on it in www.guardian.co.uk . I find it pretty absurd that he is comparing literary work with a patent. Nevertheless, it is an entertaining read. ================================================ Patent absurdity If patent law had been applied to novels in the 1880s, great books would not have been written. If the EU applies it to software, every computer user will be restricted, says Richard Stallman Monday June 20, 2005 Next month, the European Parliament will vote on the vital question of whether to allow patents covering software, which would restrict every computer user and tie software developers up in knots. Many politicians may be voting blindly - not being programmers, they don't understand what software patents do. They often think patents are similar to copyright law (except for some details), which is not the case. For example, when I publicly asked Patrick Devedjian, then the minister for industry, how France would vote on the issue of software patents, he responded with an impassioned defence of copyright law, praising Victor Hugo for his role in the adoption of copyright. Those who imagine effects like those of copyright law cannot grasp the real effects of software patents. We can use Hugo as an example to illustrate the difference between the two. A novel and a modern complex programme have certain points in common: each is large and implements many ideas. Suppose patent law had been applied to novels in the 1800s; suppose states such as France had permitted the patenting of literary ideas. How would this have affected Hugo's writing? How would the effects of literary patents compare with the effects of literary copyright? Consider the novel Les Misérables, written by Hugo. Because he wrote it, the copyright belonged only to him. He did not have to fear that some stranger could sue him for copyright infringement and win. That was impossible, because copyright covers only the details of a work of authorship, and only restricts copying. Hugo had not copied Les Misérables, so he was not in danger. Patents work differently. They cover ideas - each patent is a monopoly on practising some idea, which is described in the patent itself. Here's one example of a hypothetical literary patent: Claim 1: a communication process that represents, in the mind of a reader, the concept of a character who has been in jail for a long time and becomes bitter towards society and humankind. Claim 2: a communication process according to claim 1, wherein said character subsequently finds moral redemption through the kindness of another. Claim 3: a communication process according to claims 1 and 2, wherein said character changes his name during the story. If such a patent had existed in 1862 when Les Misérables was published, the novel would have infringed all three claims - all these things happened to Jean Valjean in the novel. Hugo could have been sued, and would have lost. The novel could have been prohibited - in effect, censored - by the patent holder. Now consider this hypothetical literary patent: Claim 1: a communication process that represents, in the mind of a reader, the concept of a character who has been in jail for a long time and subsequently changes his name. Les Misérables would have infringed that patent too, because it also fits the life story of Jean Valjean. These patents would all cover the story of one character in a novel. They overlap, but they do not precisely duplicate each other, so they could all be valid simultaneously - all the patent holders could have sued Victor Hugo. Any one of them could have prohibited publication of Les Misérables. You might think these ideas are so simple that no patent office would have issued them. We programmers are often amazed by the simplicity of the ideas that real software patents cover - for instance, the European Patent Office has issued a patent on the progress bar, and one on accepting payment via credit cards. These would be laughable if they were not so dangerous. Other aspects of Les Misérables could also have fallen foul of patents. For instance, there could have been a patent on a fictionalised portrayal of the Battle of Waterloo, or a patent on using Parisian slang in fiction. Two more lawsuits. In fact, there is no limit to the number of different patents that might have been applicable for suing the author of a work like Les Misérables. All the patent holders would claim they deserved a reward for the literary progress that their patented ideas represented - but these obstacles would not promote progress in literature. They would only obstruct it. However, a very broad patent could have made all these issues irrelevant. Imagine patents with broad claims, like these: Communication process structured with narration that continues through many pages. A narration structure sometimes resembling a fugue or improvisation. Intrigue articulated around the confrontation of specific characters, each in turn setting traps for the others. Who would the patent holders have been? They could have been other novelists, perhaps Dumas or Balzac, who had written such novels - but not necessarily. It isn't necessary to write a programme to patent a software idea, so if our hypothetical literary patents follow the real patent system, these patent holders would not have had to write novels, or stories, or anything - except patent applications. Patent parasite companies - businesses that produce nothing except threats and lawsuits - are growing larger. Given these broad patents, Hugo would not have reached the point of asking what patents might get him sued for using the character of Jean Valjean. He could not even have considered writing a novel of this kind. This analogy can help non-programmers to see what software patents do. Software patents cover features, such as defining abbreviations in a word processor or natural order recalculation in a spreadsheet. They cover algorithms that programmes need to use. They cover aspects of file formats, such as Microsoft's new formats for Word files. The MPEG 2 video format is covered by 39 different US patents. Just as one novel could infringe many different literary patents at once, one programme can infringe many different patents at once. It is so much work to identify all the patents infringed by a large programme that only one such study has been done. A 2004 study of Linux, the kernel of the GNU/Linux operating system, found that it infringed 283 different US software patents. That means each of these 283 different patents covers a computational process found somewhere in the thousands of pages of source code of Linux. The text of the directive approved by the council of ministers clearly authorises patents covering software techniques. Its backers claim the requirement for patents to have a "technical character" will exclude software patents - but it will not. It is easy to describe a computer programme in a "technical" way, the boards of appeal of the European Patent Office said. The board is aware that its comparatively broad interpretation of the term "invention" in Article 52 (1) EPC will include activities so familiar that their technical character tends to be overlooked, such as the act of writing using pen and paper. Any usable software can be "loaded and executed in a computer, programmed computer network or other programmable apparatus" in order to do its job, which is the criterion in article 5 (2) of the directive for patents to prohibit even the publication of programmes. The way to prevent software patents from bollixing software development is simple: don't authorise them. In the first reading, in 2003, the European parliament adopted the necessary amendments to exclude software patents, but the council of ministers reversed the decision. Citizens of the EU should phone their MEPs without delay, urging them to sustain the parliament's previous decision in the second reading of the directive. (c) 2005 Richard Stallman (rms at gnu.org). Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article are permitted worldwide without royalty in any medium provided this notice is preserved. · Richard Stallman launched the GNU operating system (www.gnu.org) in 1984 and founded the Free Software Foundation (fsf.org) in 1985. Gérald Sédrati-Dinet devised the examples in this article From hbs.law at gmail.com Wed Jun 22 00:14:18 2005 From: hbs.law at gmail.com (Hasit seth) Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 11:44:18 -0700 Subject: [Commons-Law] India's Information & Broadcasting Ministry Nixes On-screen Smoking Ban Message-ID: <8b60429e05062111443ed7c8af@mail.gmail.com> Hi, India's information and broadcasting ministry (read propaganda machine) has opposed health ministry's quirky proposal to ban depiction of smoking in films. The minister Jaipal Reddy pleads all kinds of reasons - technical, creative freedom, practical difficulties, etc - EXCEPT Freedom of Speech which is a constitutional guarantee. Hasit ================================================ Source: Economictimes.com online edition. I & B ministry nixes on-screen smoking ban BHASKAR ROY TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 2005 01:41:01 AM] Surf 'N' Earn -Sign innow NEW DELHI: So smoking is not being forbidden on screen after all. I&B ministry has finally written to health ministry, pleading its inability to enforce the proposed tobacco ban in films and on TV on the ground that it is neither feasible nor entirely desirable. In a detailed note sent by a senior I&B official to his health counterpart, it has been pointed out that the proposal to ban any smoking scene either in films or during live television coverage of an event is not practical due to technical reasons and the issue of creative freedom. The note which bears the hallmark of I&B minister S Jaipal Reddy's colourful rhetoric, observes that the road to hell is often paved with good intentions. Sent on Monday, it rejects health minister Anbumani Ramadoss's proposal for a total ban on the ground that there is no way smoking scenes in old films can be erased. The ministry regrets its inability to "take retrospective view" of the issue by undertaking an exercise to rub off such scenes from films already made. It points out that such a step would be both practically and technically difficult to implement. The I&B note also says that it is impossible to remove any smoking visual during live coverage of events. The effect of live telecast would be lost if time is taken to edit out images of smoking. From vinay at nls.ac.in Wed Jun 22 11:07:19 2005 From: vinay at nls.ac.in (vinay at nls.ac.in) Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 11:07:19 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Commons-Law] LA Times 'wikitorial' gives editors red faces In-Reply-To: <20050613112837.B19FA28D92F@mail.sarai.net> References: <20050613112837.B19FA28D92F@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <54206.61.246.204.194.1119418639.squirrel@61.246.204.194> LA Times 'wikitorial' gives editors red faces Dan Glaister in Los Angeles Wednesday June 22, 2005 The Guardian It was the boldest of innovations. A chance for the mainstream media to strike back against the upstarts of the online world. On Friday the Los Angeles Times - an unwieldy broadsheet newspaper - launched its "wikitorial", an interactive device allowing readers to contribute to and rewrite its editorial column. "Do you see fatuous reasoning, a selective reading of the facts, a lack of poetry?" asked an introductory article in the paper. "Well, what are you going to do about it? You could send us an e-mail ... But today you have a new option: Rewrite the editorial yourself." Trumpeting the experiment as "a constantly evolving collaboration among readers in a communal search for truth", the paper admitted that it faced potential disaster: "Like an arthritic old lady who takes to the dance floor ... the Los Angeles Times is more likely to break a hip than to be hip. We acknowledge that possibility." At the end of a 1,000-word editorial about the war in Iraq, online readers were invited to "Click here to Wiki this morning's editorial". But by Sunday, readers were met with the following statement: "Where is the wikitorial? Unfortunately, we have had to remove this feature, at least temporarily, because a few readers were flooding the site with inappropriate material." Hot and flustered, the arthritic old lady had left the dance floor. The wikitorial took its lead from the website wikipedia.org, an encyclopaedia on the internet written by volunteers. The name comes from the Hawaiian term "wiki wiki", meaning quick or informal. The wikitorial started with the first users posting modest amendments to the editorial just hours after its publication. By early morning, readers were inserting a tone that was more shrill than the high-minded balance of the original: "The Bush administration should be publicly charged and tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity." At 9am, the editorial was erased by a reader and substituted with another. Bizarrely, the new version echoed the position of the original. By mid-morning, the editorial had been replaced by the more reductive "Fuck USA". By lunchtime, the founder of Wikipedia got in on the act, "forking" the editorial into two pieces, representing opposing viewpoints. "I'm proposing this page as an alternative to what is otherwise inevitable, which is extensive editing of the original to make it neutral ... which would be fine for Wikipedia, but would not be an editorial," wrote Jimbo Wales, who advised the paper on its experiment. At 4am the paper's managing editor got a call from the office. Explicit images known as "goatses" had appeared on the wikitorial page. The experiment was terminated. But the paper remains undaunted. "As long as we can hit a high standard and have no risk of vandalism, then it is worth having a try at it again," managing editor Rob Barrett said. Michael Kinsley, opinion editor of the LA Times and the founder of the online magazine Slate, defended the wikitorial. "It's a cool thing, this wiki business and you think there's got to be some way it's useful," he said. "I thought, what the heck, let's do it." The wikitorial, with modifications, will probably return, he said. "We said it was an experiment. We were embarrassed a bit, but we took it down and we'll come right back." The old lady just can't keep away from the bright lights. From yuvaraj.a.r at gmail.com Wed Jun 22 17:01:55 2005 From: yuvaraj.a.r at gmail.com (Yuvaraj Athur Raghuvir) Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 17:01:55 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Regarding CBSE syllabus for class XI & XII - commercializing of education in India In-Reply-To: <10505d5c050621225877fc8b0a@mail.gmail.com> References: <10505d5c05060523435d33dc7f@mail.gmail.com> <10505d5c050608021191949f9@mail.gmail.com> <10505d5c050621225877fc8b0a@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <10505d5c050622043167bed613@mail.gmail.com> Hello, I was quite surprised to see that propreitary software is part of official syllabus for schools. I would not mind the labs being focussed on the software that has been "donated" by the multi-nationals. However, I would say that school education is about basics and fundamentals and not about propreitary material. For example, I would not mind Databases from an entity-relation point of view and SQL based standard. But PL/SQL that is extremely specific to Oracle is a definite no-no from my perspective. (It is the same as teaching 3M or DuPont materials as part of material science or similar such) My belief is that this is where our central educational system has been bought over by the MNCs and I strongly oppose this approach. Comments? Regards, Yuva From : http://www.education.nic.in/htmlweb/cbse_curri_05/cbsecurri_xii_05.htm (navigated on 08 June 2005) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050622/ddd594b2/attachment.html From anivar.aravind at gmail.com Thu Jun 23 10:44:23 2005 From: anivar.aravind at gmail.com (Anivar Aravind) Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2005 10:44:23 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Fwd: Indian patents again In-Reply-To: <42BA3C85.3040802@web.de> References: <42BA3C85.3040802@web.de> Message-ID: <35f96d4705062222142739e1eb@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Rebentisch Date: 23-Jun-2005 10:07 Subject: Indian patents again To: in-help at ffii.org Sounds very familiar for us: "The draft also includes guidelines for examining inventions in the software sector. As per the guidelines, claims relating to software programme products are nothing but computer programmes per se, simply expressed on a computer readable storage medium, and as such, are not patentable. However, an invention involving hardware along with software or a computer programme in order to perform the function of a hardware may be considered patentable. For instance, embedded systems." http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?storyflag=y&leftnm=lmnu2&leftindx=2&lselect=1&chklogin=N&autono=192435 Patents Act draft norms finalised Gaurie Mishra / New Delhi June 23, 2005 The government has formulated the draft guidelines for the newly amended Patents Act, 2005. As per the guidelines, non-inventions, inventions relating to atomic energy, or those contrary to public order or causing serious prejudice to human beings, animals, health or environment will not be patentable. "Any process for medicinal, surgical, curative, diagnostic and therapeutic treatment of human beings or animals to cure them is not patentable under the Indian Patents Act. Patents, however, can be obtained for surgical, therapeutic or diagnostic instruments," according to the draft guidelines which have been put on the official website for public comments. The draft guidelines relate to the practice and procedure to be followed in examination of patents applications in India. They also aim at making industries, research and development organisations, individual researchers and inventors familiar with the patents system in India provide a user-friendly system for obtaining as well as maintaining patents under the existing law. While clones and new variety of plants are not patentable, the process or method of preparing genetically modified organisms are patentable subject matter. The draft also includes guidelines for examining inventions in the software sector. As per the guidelines, claims relating to software programme products are nothing but computer programmes per se, simply expressed on a computer readable storage medium, and as such, are not patentable. However, an invention involving hardware along with software or a computer programme in order to perform the function of a hardware may be considered patentable. For instance, embedded systems. Mere discovery of a scientific principle or formulation of an abstract theory or discovery of any living thing or non-living substances will also not be eligible for a patent. Similarly, a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or any other aesthetic creation, including cinematographic work and television productions, are not patentable, according to the guidelines. When a patent is granted to two or more persons, each will be entitled to an equal undivided share in the patent unless an agreement to the contrary is in force. All can enjoy their rights for their own benefits without accounting for to others but the licence cannot be given to any other person, or their assignment, without the consent of others. Similarly, when a patented article is sold by one of two or more persons registered as grantee or proprietor of a patent, the purchaser and any person claiming the article through him shall be entitled to deal with the article in the same manner as if the article had been sold by a sole patentee, the guidelines said. The Comptroller of Patents can, at any point of time, revoke a patent if the criteria like novelty are not fulfilled. Violation or false information given in the disclosure norms can also lead to revoking of patents. _______________________________________________ In-help maillist subscribe via http://aktiv.ffii.org/ fine-tune via http://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/in-help From tahir.amin at btopenworld.com Fri Jun 24 08:57:39 2005 From: tahir.amin at btopenworld.com (TAHIR AMIN) Date: Fri, 24 Jun 2005 04:27:39 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Commons-Law] Software piracy 'seen as normal' - Fake Nation Message-ID: <20050624032739.71581.qmail@web86108.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Software piracy 'seen as normal' By Alfred Hermida Technology editor, BBC News website Campaigns to persuade people to stop downloading pirated games or software from the internet are not working, a report suggests. Two UK university researchers found that people did not see downloading copyrighted material as theft. The findings are unwelcome news for the games industry, which says it loses more than £2bn annually from piracy. The results of the government-funded study were previewed at a games conference in London. The report, called Fake Nation, is due to be formally presented next week by Dr Jo Bryce of the University of Central Lancashire and Dr Jason Rutter of the University of Manchester. Crime? What crime? The study was commissioned to find out if the anti-piracy message was having an impact on people's attitudes. Most campaigns in the UK have focused on the damage being done by software or film piracy. They have also pushed the idea that consumers are supporting organised crime when they buy a game or DVD from someone in the street. Despite ads in the cinema, magazines and newspapers, the message is falling on deaf ears. "Consumers have an awareness of the scale of the problem and cost, but don't take onboard industry concerns or government messages," said Dr Bryce, a senior lecturer in psychology. The researchers found that people did not equate downloading a game with the idea of shoplifting the disc from a shop. "People are more accepting of it, even if they didn't engage it in themselves," said Dr Bryce. "They don't see it as a great problem on a social or economic level. "They just don't see it as theft. They just see it as inevitable, particularly as new technologies become available." Unsurprisingly, the main reason people grab games from the net was because they are free. But scratching beneath the surface, the researchers found that not having to pay for games was particularly attractive for teenagers, as it meant they had more money for other things. "Teenagers are being tactical spenders," said Dr Bryce. "The money saved lets them spend more on mobile phones, going to the cinema or eating out." Pub pirates In the past, much of the anti-piracy drive has been directed against people selling counterfeit discs at markets or on street corners. The games trade body, the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association, (Elspa) has a 40-strong anti-piracy unit. Last year, it carried out 538 raids across the UK, seizing £4m worth of copied games and successfully prosecuting 67 software counterfeiters. But the Fake Nation study suggests these efforts may also be misguided. The researchers found that most people did not buy counterfeit software from dodgy dealers on street corners. Instead they bought games from people they knew in places like the office, the pub or at school. "The purchase of counterfeit goods or illegal downloading are seen as normal leisure practices," said Dr Bryce. "The downloading of games is a burgeoning issue, and with broadband growing, this is likely to increase and drive access to pirated games away from commercial interests into people's homes." Cost to creativity Despite the study's results, Michael Rawlinson, deputy head of Elspa, remained confident that attitudes towards pirated software could be changed. "It is possible to effect a change in young people's behaviour once you explain the process of creation in bringing these products to market," he said. But he admitted that wiping out illegal downloads would take time and money. "The government has spent millions of pounds to change public awareness of drink-driving and smoking. "As a society, we need to go through a similar process for creativity and intellectual property." Around 2,400 people were questioned via the post and the web for the study between August and September last year. The researchers also held 12 focus groups. --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger NEW - crystal clear PC to PCcalling worldwide with voicemail -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050624/cd5c07b5/attachment.html From paivakil at yahoo.co.in Fri Jun 24 14:57:36 2005 From: paivakil at yahoo.co.in (Mahesh T. Pai) Date: Fri, 24 Jun 2005 14:57:36 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Patent Absurdity....Richard Stallman In-Reply-To: <8b60429e050621073756be41c9@mail.gmail.com> References: <8b60429e050621073756be41c9@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20050624092736.GA4422@home.wki> Hasit seth said on Tue, Jun 21, 2005 at 07:37:41AM -0700,: > I find it pretty absurd that he is comparing literary work with a > patent. Nevertheless, it is an entertaining read. He is using that comparasion because politicians are saying things like ``look how copyright protection is to publishing, and patents will be equally good for software''. The comparasion is being used by politicians; and RMS is using the same tactic to demoligh their arguments. -- Mahesh T. Pai <<>> http://paivakil.port5.com Copying an idea is plagiarism. Copying many ideas from many authors is RESEARCH. From anand at sarai.net Sat Jun 25 11:20:53 2005 From: anand at sarai.net (Anand V. Taneja) Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2005 07:50:53 +0200 (CEST) Subject: [Commons-Law] closure of the daryaganj sunday book bazaar Message-ID: <4217.221.134.50.142.1119678653.squirrel@mail.sarai.net> Dear All, Woke up to the horrifying news in this morning's Hindustan Times that the Sunday Book Bazaar in DaryaGanj is going to be shut down by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. (See, 'Sunset for Sunday Book Bazaar', Hindustan Times, Saturday, June 25 front page, Delhi edition.) The Sunday Book Bazaar has, despite the occasional threat of closure (1992, 2001), and one shift of venue, been around in Delhi for the past forty years. It should count as a venerable institution. Especially since in the virtual absence of good public libraries in Delhi, this is one of the very few places where people can get quality books at affordable prices. For all students, and for all lovers of books, and for everybody in the city, the closure, if we let it happen, is going to be a terrible loss. The MCD and Police decision to shut the book bazaar needs to be challenged. This mail is just to get some ideas going. How do we go about this? Should those who want to save the Sunday Boook Bazaar do some form of demonstration or sit-in in front of the Daryaganj Police Station, across the road from the book bazaar? Ideas, suggestions, action! Cheers, Anand Ph - 93122-62109 -- The Sarai Programme http://www.sarai.net/ Weblogs - http://synchroni-cities.blogspot.com/ http://www.chapatimystery.com/ From tato at paris.com Sat Jun 25 13:04:53 2005 From: tato at paris.com (Dhritabrata BHATTACHARJYA Tato) Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2005 02:34:53 -0500 Subject: [Commons-Law] closure of the daryaganj sunday book bazaar Message-ID: <20050625073453.8F4B2101D9@ws1-3.us4.outblaze.com> Dear Mr. Taneja, I am in paris unfortunately. There was a similar move in Calcutta to clear up the pavements of the city. However, College Street pavement book bazar remained untouched. So it can even be a case of precedence. Another important thing is it might come under tangible cultural heritage to which to best of my knowledge India is a signatory. Please let me know if I can help you anyways.... cordially, tato ----- Original Message ----- From: "Anand V. Taneja" To: internal at sarai.net Subject: [Commons-Law] closure of the daryaganj sunday book bazaar Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2005 07:50:53 +0200 (CEST) > > > Dear All, > > Woke up to the horrifying news in this morning's Hindustan Times that > the Sunday Book Bazaar in DaryaGanj is going to be shut down by the > Municipal Corporation of Delhi. > (See, 'Sunset for Sunday Book Bazaar', Hindustan Times, Saturday, June > 25 front page, Delhi edition.) > > The Sunday Book Bazaar has, despite the occasional threat of closure > (1992, 2001), and one shift of venue, been around in Delhi for the > past forty years. It should count as a venerable institution. > Especially since in the virtual absence of good public libraries in > Delhi, this is one of the very few places where people can get quality > books at affordable prices. For all students, and for all lovers of > books, and for everybody in the city, the closure, if we let it > happen, is going to be a terrible loss. > > The MCD and Police decision to shut the book bazaar needs to be > challenged. This mail is just to get some ideas going. How do we go > about this? Should those who want to save the Sunday Boook Bazaar do > some form of demonstration or sit-in in front of the Daryaganj Police > Station, across the road from the book bazaar? > > Ideas, suggestions, action! > Cheers, > Anand > Ph - 93122-62109 > > > -- > The Sarai Programme > http://www.sarai.net/ > Weblogs - > http://synchroni-cities.blogspot.com/ > http://www.chapatimystery.com/ > > > _______________________________________________ > commons-law mailing list > commons-law at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/commons-law Dhritabrata BHATTACHARJYA Tato Ch. n° 167, MPF 55 Bld. Jourdan 75014 Paris 00 33 6 70 13 48 75 -- ___________________________________________________________ Sign-up for Ads Free at Mail.com http://promo.mail.com/adsfreejump.htm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050625/57688289/attachment.html From prashant at nalsartech.org Sat Jun 25 15:05:35 2005 From: prashant at nalsartech.org (Prashant Iyengar) Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2005 15:05:35 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] a judgment in verse Message-ID: <20050625150535.ylcqit3u4eg4s44w@www.nalsartech.org> Hi, This might seem a bit off-topic but it makes an interesting read, if true. I'm wondering about how one would go about extracting a ratio out of this one. "Common law" goes for a spin I guess.. regards, Prashant "Fisher v. Lowe" A wayward Chevy struck a tree Whose owner sued defendants three. He sued car's owner, driver, too, And insurer for what was due For his oak tree that now may bear A lasting need for tender care. The Oakland County Circuit Court, John N. O'Brian, J., set forth The judgment that defendants sought, And quickly an appeal was brought. Court of Appeals, J. H. Gillis, J., Gave thought and then had this to say: 1) There is no liability, Since No-Fault grants immunity, 2) No jurisdiction can be found Where process service is unsound; And thus the judgment, as it's termed Is due to be, and is Affirmed. [1] AUTOMOBILES k251.13 Defendant's Chevy struck a tree, There was no liability. The No-Fault Act comes into play, As owner and the driver say. Barred by the act's immunity, No suit in tort will aid the tree. Although the oak's in disarray, No court can make defendants pay. [2] PROCESS k4 No jurisdiction could be found, Where process service is unsound. In personam jurisdiction Was not even legal fiction Where plaintiff failed to well comply With rules of court that did apply. * * * J. H. GILLIS, Judge. We thought that we would never see A suit to compensate a tree. A suit whose claim in tort is prest, Upon a mangled tree's behest; A tree whose battered trunk was prest Against a Chevy's crumpled crest; A tree that faces each new day With bark and limb in disarray; A tree that may forever bear A lasting need for tender care. Flora lovers though we three, We must affirm the court's decree. Affirmed. -- Michigan Court of Appeals 333 N.W. 2d 67 (Mich. App. 1983) (footnotes (in prose) omitted). Yes, this is an honest-to-goodness Michigan appellate court decision. It's still valid (though uninteresting) law, too. It's not the only time a judge has been inspired by a funny or silly or (in this case) wildly frivolous lawsuit to launch into verse. After a few years, the starchy style you're pretty much forced to accept as a jurist really begins to drag on some people, I guess. But this one's a rarity, for the following reasons: (1) Usually, any poetry is written by the dissent, with the majority opinion written in boring prose. (2) For some reason, this time the verse was infectious: Thanks to Gillis's opinion (offered unanimously by the three-judge panel), the author of the syllabus (the first bit) and the headnotes (the little blurb summary bits with the numbers) were also inspired to rhyme. Lastly, (3) it's one of the two examples I know of where not only is the opinion in verse, it is also a direct parody of a specific poem. (There's also "In Re Love," 61 B.R. 558 (Bankr. S. D. Fla. 1986), which is a very good parody of The Raven, but that doesn't really count since it's not real law. The opinion is the judge denying his own sua sponte motion-in English instead of legalese, that means it's a pointless activity for the sole purpose of producing an opinion with no possible legal ramifications.) Ah, poetic justice. --Mark [this poem is archived, accessible and awaiting your comments at] http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1726.html To subscribe, send a blank mail to . From sanjaybhatia at justice.com Sat Jun 25 17:01:53 2005 From: sanjaybhatia at justice.com (sanjay bhatia) Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2005 04:31:53 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Commons-Law] a judgment in verse Message-ID: <20050625113154.14160.fh038.wm@smtp.sc0.cp.net> Hi, There are many such decisions rendered by the US courts. In an original proceeding, Richard J. Rome, Judge of the Magistrate Court of Reno County, while writing a "Memorandum Decision" stated (name of defendant deleted): This is the saga of _ _ Whose ancient profession brings her before us. On January 30th, 1974, This lass agreed to work as a whore. Her great mistake, as was to unfold, Was the enticing of a cop named Harold. Unknown to _ _, this officer, surnamed Harris, Was duty-bent on _ _'s lot to embarrass. At the Brass Rail they met, And for twenty dollars the trick was all set. In separate cars they did pursue, To the sensuous apartment of _ _. Bound for her bed she spared not a minute, Followed by Harris with his heart not in Followed by Harris with his heart not in As she prepared to repose there in her bay, She was arrested by Harris, to her great She was arrested by Harris, to her great dismay! Off to the jailhouse poor _ _ was taken, Printed and mugged, her confidence shaken. Formally charged by this great State, With offering to Harris to fornicate. Her arraignment was formal, then back to jail, And quick as a flash she was admitted to bail. On February 26, 1974, The State of Kansas tried this young whore. A prosecutor named Brown, Represented the Crown. _ _, her freedom in danger, Was being defended by a chap named Granger. Testimony was presented and arguments heard, Poor _ _ waited for the Judge's last word. The finding was guilty, with no great alarm, And _ _ was sentenced to the Women's State Farm. An appeal was taken, to a higher court _ _ went, The thousand dollar fine was added to imprisonment. *201 Trial was set in this higher court, But the route of appeal _ _ chose to abort. And back to Judge Rome, came this lady of the night, To plead for her freedom and end this great fight. So under advisement _ _'s freedom was taken, And in the bastille this lady did waken. The judge showed mercy and _ _ was free, But back to the street she could not flee. The fine she'd pay while out on parole, But not from men she used to cajole. From her ancient profession she'd been busted, And to society's rules she must be adjusted. If from all of this a moral doth unfurl, It is that Pimps do not protect the working girl! The judge who wrote this doggerel was censured by the Supreme Court of Kansas for exposing the defendant to public ridicule and scorn. See In re Rome, 218 Kan. 198, 200-201, 542 P.2d 676 (1975). Now thats what you call "Poetic Justice". Sanjay Bhatia (Those who require the full text of the Supreme Court order censuring Rome, J., may mail me on my personal id.) On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 15:05:35 +0530, Prashant Iyengar wrote: > > Hi, > This might seem a bit off-topic but it makes an > interesting read, if true. I'm > wondering about how one would go about extracting a > ratio out of this one. > "Common law" goes for a spin I guess.. > regards, > Prashant > > "Fisher v. Lowe" > > A wayward Chevy struck a tree > Whose owner sued defendants three. > He sued car's owner, driver, too, > And insurer for what was due > For his oak tree that now may bear > A lasting need for tender care. > The Oakland County Circuit Court, > John N. O'Brian, J., set forth > The judgment that defendants sought, > And quickly an appeal was brought. > Court of Appeals, J. H. Gillis, J., > Gave thought and then had this to say: > 1) There is no liability, > Since No-Fault grants immunity, > 2) No jurisdiction can be found > Where process service is unsound; > And thus the judgment, as it's termed > Is due to be, and is > Affirmed. > > [1] AUTOMOBILES k251.13 > Defendant's Chevy struck a tree, > There was no liability. > The No-Fault Act comes into play, > As owner and the driver say. > Barred by the act's immunity, > No suit in tort will aid the tree. > Although the oak's in disarray, > No court can make defendants pay. > > [2] PROCESS k4 > No jurisdiction could be found, > Where process service is unsound. > In personam jurisdiction > Was not even legal fiction > Where plaintiff failed to well comply > With rules of court that did apply. > > * * * > > J. H. GILLIS, Judge. > We thought that we would never see > A suit to compensate a tree. > A suit whose claim in tort is prest, > Upon a mangled tree's behest; > A tree whose battered trunk was prest > Against a Chevy's crumpled crest; > A tree that faces each new day > With bark and limb in disarray; > A tree that may forever bear > A lasting need for tender care. > Flora lovers though we three, > We must affirm the court's decree. > > Affirmed. > > -- Michigan Court of Appeals > > 333 N.W. 2d 67 (Mich. App. 1983) (footnotes (in prose) > omitted). > > Yes, this is an honest-to-goodness Michigan appellate > court decision. It's > still valid (though uninteresting) law, too. > > It's not the only time a judge has been inspired by a > funny or silly or (in > this case) wildly frivolous lawsuit to launch into > verse. After a few > years, the starchy style you're pretty much forced to > accept as a jurist > really begins to drag on some people, I guess. But > this one's a rarity, for > the following reasons: (1) Usually, any poetry is > written by the dissent, > with the majority opinion written in boring prose. (2) > For some reason, > this time the verse was infectious: Thanks to Gillis's > opinion (offered > unanimously by the three-judge panel), the author of > the syllabus (the first > bit) and the headnotes (the little blurb summary bits > with the numbers) were > also inspired to rhyme. Lastly, (3) it's one of the > two examples I know of > where not only is the opinion in verse, it is also a > direct parody of a > specific poem. (There's also "In Re Love," 61 B.R. 558 > (Bankr. S. D. Fla. > 1986), which is a very good parody of The Raven, but > that doesn't really > count since it's not real law. The opinion is the > judge denying his own sua > sponte motion-in English instead of legalese, that > means it's a pointless > activity for the sole purpose of producing an opinion > with no possible legal > ramifications.) > > Ah, poetic justice. > > --Mark > > [this poem is archived, accessible and awaiting your > comments at] > http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1726.html > To subscribe, send a blank mail to > . > > _______________________________________________ > commons-law mailing list > commons-law at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/commons-law _________________________________________________ FindLaw - Free Case Law, Jobs, Library, Community http://www.FindLaw.com Get your FREE @JUSTICE.COM email! http://mail.Justice.com From sanjaybhatia at justice.com Sat Jun 25 17:01:43 2005 From: sanjaybhatia at justice.com (sanjay bhatia) Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2005 04:31:43 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Commons-Law] a judgment in verse Message-ID: <20050625113144.13376.fh038.wm@smtp.sc0.cp.net> Hi, There are many such decisions rendered by the US courts. In an original proceeding, Richard J. Rome, Judge of the Magistrate Court of Reno County, while writing a "Memorandum Decision" stated (name of defendant deleted): This is the saga of _ _ Whose ancient profession brings her before us. On January 30th, 1974, This lass agreed to work as a whore. Her great mistake, as was to unfold, Was the enticing of a cop named Harold. Unknown to _ _, this officer, surnamed Harris, Was duty-bent on _ _'s lot to embarrass. At the Brass Rail they met, And for twenty dollars the trick was all set. In separate cars they did pursue, To the sensuous apartment of _ _. Bound for her bed she spared not a minute, Followed by Harris with his heart not in Followed by Harris with his heart not in As she prepared to repose there in her bay, She was arrested by Harris, to her great She was arrested by Harris, to her great dismay! Off to the jailhouse poor _ _ was taken, Printed and mugged, her confidence shaken. Formally charged by this great State, With offering to Harris to fornicate. Her arraignment was formal, then back to jail, And quick as a flash she was admitted to bail. On February 26, 1974, The State of Kansas tried this young whore. A prosecutor named Brown, Represented the Crown. _ _, her freedom in danger, Was being defended by a chap named Granger. Testimony was presented and arguments heard, Poor _ _ waited for the Judge's last word. The finding was guilty, with no great alarm, And _ _ was sentenced to the Women's State Farm. An appeal was taken, to a higher court _ _ went, The thousand dollar fine was added to imprisonment. *201 Trial was set in this higher court, But the route of appeal _ _ chose to abort. And back to Judge Rome, came this lady of the night, To plead for her freedom and end this great fight. So under advisement _ _'s freedom was taken, And in the bastille this lady did waken. The judge showed mercy and _ _ was free, But back to the street she could not flee. The fine she'd pay while out on parole, But not from men she used to cajole. From her ancient profession she'd been busted, And to society's rules she must be adjusted. If from all of this a moral doth unfurl, It is that Pimps do not protect the working girl! The judge who wrote this doggerel was censured by the Supreme Court of Kansas for exposing the defendant to public ridicule and scorn. See In re Rome, 218 Kan. 198, 200-201, 542 P.2d 676 (1975). Now thats what you call "Poetic Justice". Sanjay Bhatia (Those who require the full text of the Supreme Court order censuring Rome, J., may mail me on my personal id.) On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 15:05:35 +0530, Prashant Iyengar wrote: > > Hi, > This might seem a bit off-topic but it makes an > interesting read, if true. I'm > wondering about how one would go about extracting a > ratio out of this one. > "Common law" goes for a spin I guess.. > regards, > Prashant > > "Fisher v. Lowe" > > A wayward Chevy struck a tree > Whose owner sued defendants three. > He sued car's owner, driver, too, > And insurer for what was due > For his oak tree that now may bear > A lasting need for tender care. > The Oakland County Circuit Court, > John N. O'Brian, J., set forth > The judgment that defendants sought, > And quickly an appeal was brought. > Court of Appeals, J. H. Gillis, J., > Gave thought and then had this to say: > 1) There is no liability, > Since No-Fault grants immunity, > 2) No jurisdiction can be found > Where process service is unsound; > And thus the judgment, as it's termed > Is due to be, and is > Affirmed. > > [1] AUTOMOBILES k251.13 > Defendant's Chevy struck a tree, > There was no liability. > The No-Fault Act comes into play, > As owner and the driver say. > Barred by the act's immunity, > No suit in tort will aid the tree. > Although the oak's in disarray, > No court can make defendants pay. > > [2] PROCESS k4 > No jurisdiction could be found, > Where process service is unsound. > In personam jurisdiction > Was not even legal fiction > Where plaintiff failed to well comply > With rules of court that did apply. > > * * * > > J. H. GILLIS, Judge. > We thought that we would never see > A suit to compensate a tree. > A suit whose claim in tort is prest, > Upon a mangled tree's behest; > A tree whose battered trunk was prest > Against a Chevy's crumpled crest; > A tree that faces each new day > With bark and limb in disarray; > A tree that may forever bear > A lasting need for tender care. > Flora lovers though we three, > We must affirm the court's decree. > > Affirmed. > > -- Michigan Court of Appeals > > 333 N.W. 2d 67 (Mich. App. 1983) (footnotes (in prose) > omitted). > > Yes, this is an honest-to-goodness Michigan appellate > court decision. It's > still valid (though uninteresting) law, too. > > It's not the only time a judge has been inspired by a > funny or silly or (in > this case) wildly frivolous lawsuit to launch into > verse. After a few > years, the starchy style you're pretty much forced to > accept as a jurist > really begins to drag on some people, I guess. But > this one's a rarity, for > the following reasons: (1) Usually, any poetry is > written by the dissent, > with the majority opinion written in boring prose. (2) > For some reason, > this time the verse was infectious: Thanks to Gillis's > opinion (offered > unanimously by the three-judge panel), the author of > the syllabus (the first > bit) and the headnotes (the little blurb summary bits > with the numbers) were > also inspired to rhyme. Lastly, (3) it's one of the > two examples I know of > where not only is the opinion in verse, it is also a > direct parody of a > specific poem. (There's also "In Re Love," 61 B.R. 558 > (Bankr. S. D. Fla. > 1986), which is a very good parody of The Raven, but > that doesn't really > count since it's not real law. The opinion is the > judge denying his own sua > sponte motion-in English instead of legalese, that > means it's a pointless > activity for the sole purpose of producing an opinion > with no possible legal > ramifications.) > > Ah, poetic justice. > > --Mark > > [this poem is archived, accessible and awaiting your > comments at] > http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1726.html > To subscribe, send a blank mail to > . > > _______________________________________________ > commons-law mailing list > commons-law at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/commons-law _________________________________________________ FindLaw - Free Case Law, Jobs, Library, Community http://www.FindLaw.com Get your FREE @JUSTICE.COM email! http://mail.Justice.com From yuvaraj.a.r at gmail.com Wed Jun 22 11:28:27 2005 From: yuvaraj.a.r at gmail.com (Yuvaraj Athur Raghuvir) Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 11:28:27 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Regarding CBSE syllabus for class XI & XII - commercializing of education in India In-Reply-To: <10505d5c050608021191949f9@mail.gmail.com> References: <10505d5c05060523435d33dc7f@mail.gmail.com> <10505d5c050608021191949f9@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <10505d5c050621225877fc8b0a@mail.gmail.com> Hello, I managed to get a PDF version of the CBSE XI & XII syllabus and I see that MS and Oracle are extensively taught. I was quite surprised to see that propreitary software is part of official syllabus for schools. I would not mind the labs being focussed on the software that has been "donated" by the multi-nationals. However, I would say that school education is about basics and fundamentals and not about propreitary material. For example, I would not mind Databases from an entity-relation point of view and SQL based standard. But PL/SQL that is extremely specific to Oracle is a definite no-no from my perspective. (It is the same as teaching 3M or DuPont materials as part of material science or similar such) My belief is that this is where our central educational system has been bought over by the MNCs and I strongly oppose this approach. Comments? Regards, Yuva From : http://www.education.nic.in/htmlweb/cbse_curri_05/cbsecurri_xii_05.htm(navigated on 08 June 2005) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050622/4fedcc38/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: infoprac_curri_xii_05.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 257328 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050622/4fedcc38/attachment.pdf From rohangeorge at gmail.com Mon Jun 27 10:56:04 2005 From: rohangeorge at gmail.com (Rohan George) Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 10:56:04 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] re:closure of the daryaganj sunday book bazaar Message-ID: I just wanted to know whether anything new has happened on the closure of the sunday book market by the MCD. According to a recent ToI story, it didnt happen yesterday, buhttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1153013.cmsbut is it possible that it ould still happen? if so please keep us in the know The sunday book arket is a tradition that a lot of us hae oe to assoiate with delhi -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050627/5d38a8b6/attachment.html From hbs.law at gmail.com Mon Jun 27 21:11:05 2005 From: hbs.law at gmail.com (Hasit seth) Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 08:41:05 -0700 Subject: [Commons-Law] File-Sharing Networks Can Be Held Liable, Court Rules Message-ID: <8b60429e0506270841644bdfae@mail.gmail.com> This decision is reported just minutes ago today. I hope to read it soon. From the below NY Times report it appears that the Betamax defence is not overruled. It is a factual decision as to whether there is enough evidence to go ahead with trial to determine "substantial non-infringing" uses that would qualify Grokster etc for a Betamax defence. Given the factual scenario that file sharing is primarily used to infringe copyrighted materials as of today it is doubtful if Grokster and Streamcast can survive at the trial. In short, a copying device/mechanism will not get automatic Betamax protection which is nothing new to say in terms of a legal position. What concerns me is that how will this affect development of file/information sharing technologies such as P2P and others in future? will any sharing technology have to provide for DRM by default? or can free-for-all copying regime still exist? - Hasit ======================================================== File-Sharing Networks Can Be Held Liable, Court Rules By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: June 27, 2005 Internet file-sharing services will be held responsible if they intend for their customers to use software primarily to swap songs and movies illegally, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, rejecting warnings that the lawsuits will stunt growth of cool tech gadgets such as the next iPod. The unanimous decision sends the case back to lower court, which had ruled in favor of file-sharing services Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc. on the grounds that the companies couldn't be sued. The justices said there was enough evidence of unlawful intent for the case to go to trial. File-sharing services shouldn't get a free pass on bad behavior, justices said. "We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by the clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties," Justice David H. Souter wrote for the court. At issue was whether the file-sharing services should be held liable even if they have no direct control over what millions of online users are doing with the software they provide for free. As much as 90 percent of songs and movies copied on the file-sharing networks are downloaded illegally, according to music industry filings. The entertainment industry said it needed protection against the billions of dollars in revenue they lose to illegal swapping. Consumer groups worried that expanded liability will stifle the technology revolution of the last two decades that brought video cassette recorders, MP3 players and Apple's iPod. Companies will have to pay music and movie artists for up to billions in losses if they are found to have promoted illegal downloading. Two lower courts previously sided with Grokster without holding a trial. They each based their decisions on the 1984 Supreme Court ruling that Sony Corp. could not be sued over consumers who used its VCRs to make illegal copies of movies. The lower courts reasoned that, like VCRs, the file-sharing software can be used for "substantial" legal purposes, such as giving away free songs, free software or government documents. They also said the file-sharing services were not legally responsible because they don't have central servers pointing users to copyright material. But in Monday's ruling, Souter said lower courts could find the file-sharing services responsible by examining factors such as how companies marketed the product or whether they took easily available steps to reduce infringing uses. "There is substantial evidence in MGM's favor on all elements of inducement," Souter wrote. In the closely watched case, supporting the effort to sue the companies were dozens of entertainment industry companies, including musicians Don Henley, Sheryl Crow and the Dixie Chicks, as well as attorneys general in 40 states. About 20 independent recording artists, including musician and producer Brian Eno, rockers Heart and rapper-activist Chuck D, supported the file-sharing technology to allow for greater distribution of their works. Monday's ruling gives the entertainment industry another legal option to the more costly and less popular route of going directly after millions of online file-swappers believed to distribute songs and movies illegally. It's unclear how much the decision will actually deter the widespread problem of piracy since software programs created abroad won't be subject to the tougher U.S. copyright laws. Still, analysts say the court's stern rebuke should provide a boost to many file-sharing services that offer legal downloading for a fee. Industry observers have said a ruling against Grokster could also prompt stiffer enforcement from European regulators, who were watching the case for guidance on tackling copyright questions in their countries. Recording companies in the United States have already sued thousands of individual users; at least 600 of the cases were eventually settled for roughly $3,000 each. The case is Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios v. Grokster, 04-480. ================================================== From hbs.law at gmail.com Mon Jun 27 22:11:53 2005 From: hbs.law at gmail.com (Hasit seth) Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 09:41:53 -0700 Subject: [Commons-Law] Re: MGM v Grokster Opinion In-Reply-To: <20050627160645.26800.qmail@webmail53.rediffmail.com> References: <20050627160645.26800.qmail@webmail53.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: <8b60429e0506270941560caecc@mail.gmail.com> Thanks Shyamkrishna for sending me the PDF of Grokster decision. I found the findlaw.com has the full judgment ready along with concurring ones. Here is the full text of the main opinion. The other two concurring opinions can be found here: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&navby=case&vol=000&invol=04-480 ========================= METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS INC. et al. v. GROKSTER, LTD., et al. certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the ninth circuit No. 04-480.Argued March 29, 2005--Decided June 27, 2005 Respondent companies distribute free software that allows computer users to share electronic files through peer-to-peer networks, so called because the computers communicate directly with each other, not through central servers. Although such networks can be used to share any type of digital file, recipients of respondents' software have mostly used them to share copyrighted music and video files without authorization. Seeking damages and an injunction, a group of movie studios and other copyright holders (hereinafter MGM) sued respondents for their users' copyright infringements, alleging that respondents knowingly and intentionally distributed their software to enable users to infringe copyrighted works in violation of the Copyright Act. Discovery revealed that billions of files are shared across peer-to-peer networks each month. Respondents are aware that users employ their software primarily to download copyrighted files, although the decentralized networks do not reveal which files are copied, and when. Respondents have sometimes learned about the infringement directly when users have e-mailed questions regarding copyrighted works, and respondents have replied with guidance. Respondents are not merely passive recipients of information about infringement. The record is replete with evidence that when they began to distribute their free software, each of them clearly voiced the objective that recipients use the software to download copyrighted works and took active steps to encourage infringement. After the notorious file-sharing service, Napster, was sued by copyright holders for facilitating copyright infringement, both respondents promoted and marketed themselves as Napster alternatives. They receive no revenue from users, but, instead, generate income by selling advertising space, then streaming the advertising to their users. As the number of users increases, advertising opportunities are worth more. There is no evidence that either respondent made an effort to filter copyrighted material from users' downloads or otherwise to impede the sharing of copyrighted files. While acknowledging that respondents' users had directly infringed MGM's copyrights, the District Court nonetheless granted respondents summary judgment as to liability arising from distribution of their software. The Ninth Circuit affirmed. It read Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U. S. 417, as holding that the distribution of a commercial product capable of substantial noninfringing uses could not give rise to contributory liability for infringement unless the distributor had actual knowledge of specific instances of infringement and failed to act on that knowledge. Because the appeals court found respondents' software to be capable of substantial noninfringing uses and because respondents had no actual knowledge of infringement owing to the software's decentralized architecture, the court held that they were not liable. It also held that they did not materially contribute to their users' infringement because the users themselves searched for, retrieved, and stored the infringing files, with no involvement by respondents beyond providing the software in the first place. Finally, the court held that respondents could not be held liable under a vicarious infringement theory because they did not monitor or control the software's use, had no agreed-upon right or current ability to supervise its use, and had no independent duty to police infringement. Held: One who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, going beyond mere distribution with knowledge of third-party action, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties using the device, regardless of the device's lawful uses. Pp. 10-24. (a) The tension between the competing values of supporting creativity through copyright protection and promoting technological innovation by limiting infringement liability is the subject of this case. Despite offsetting considerations, the argument for imposing indirect liability here is powerful, given the number of infringing downloads that occur daily using respondents' software. When a widely shared product is used to commit infringement, it may be impossible to enforce rights in the protected work effectively against all direct infringers, so that the only practical alternative is to go against the device's distributor for secondary liability on a theory of contributory or vicarious infringement. One infringes contributorily by intentionally inducing or encouraging direct infringement, and infringes vicariously by profiting from direct infringement while declining to exercise the right to stop or limit it. Although "[t]he Copyright Act does not expressly render anyone liable for [another's] infringement," Sony, 464 U. S., at 434, these secondary liability doctrines emerged from common law principles and are well established in the law, e.g., id., at 486. Pp. 10-13. (b) Sony addressed a claim that secondary liability for infringement can arise from the very distribution of a commercial product. There, copyright holders sued Sony, the manufacturer of videocassette recorders, claiming that it was contributorily liable for the infringement that occurred when VCR owners taped copyrighted programs. The evidence showed that the VCR's principal use was "time-shifting," i.e., taping a program for later viewing at a more convenient time, which the Court found to be a fair, noninfringing use. 464 U. S., at 423-424. Moreover, there was no evidence that Sony had desired to bring about taping in violation of copyright or taken active steps to increase its profits from unlawful taping. Id., at 438. On those facts, the only conceivable basis for liability was on a theory of contributory infringement through distribution of a product. Id., at 439. Because the VCR was "capable of commercially significant noninfringing uses," the Court held that Sony was not liable. Id., at 442. This theory reflected patent law's traditional staple article of commerce doctrine that distribution of a component of a patented device will not violate the patent if it is suitable for use in other ways. 35 U. S. C §271(c). The doctrine absolves the equivocal conduct of selling an item with lawful and unlawful uses and limits liability to instances of more acute fault. In this case, the Ninth Circuit misread Sony to mean that when a product is capable of substantial lawful use, the producer cannot be held contributorily liable for third parties' infringing use of it, even when an actual purpose to cause infringing use is shown, unless the distributors had specific knowledge of infringement at a time when they contributed to the infringement and failed to act upon that information. Sony did not displace other secondary liability theories. Pp. 13-17. (c) Nothing in Sony requires courts to ignore evidence of intent to promote infringement if such evidence exists. It was never meant to foreclose rules of fault-based liability derived from the common law. 464 U. S., at 439. Where evidence goes beyond a product's characteristics or the knowledge that it may be put to infringing uses, and shows statements or actions directed to promoting infringement, Sony's staple-article rule will not preclude liability. At common law a copyright or patent defendant who "not only expected but invoked [infringing use] by advertisement" was liable for infringement. Kalem Co. v. Harper Brothers, 222 U. S. 55, 62-63. The rule on inducement of infringement as developed in the early cases is no different today. Evidence of active steps taken to encourage direct infringement, such as advertising an infringing use or instructing how to engage in an infringing use, shows an affirmative intent that the product be used to infringe, and overcomes the law's reluctance to find liability when a defendant merely sells a commercial product suitable for some lawful use. A rule that premises liability on purposeful, culpable expression and conduct does nothing to compromise legitimate commerce or discourage innovation having a lawful promise. Pp. 17-20. (d) On the record presented, respondents' unlawful objective is unmistakable. The classic instance of inducement is by advertisement or solicitation that broadcasts a message designed to stimulate others to commit violations. MGM argues persuasively that such a message is shown here. Three features of the evidence of intent are particularly notable. First, each of the respondents showed itself to be aiming to satisfy a known source of demand for copyright infringement, the market comprising former Napster users. Respondents' efforts to supply services to former Napster users indicate a principal, if not exclusive, intent to bring about infringement. Second, neither respondent attempted to develop filtering tools or other mechanisms to diminish the infringing activity using their software. While the Ninth Circuit treated that failure as irrelevant because respondents lacked an independent duty to monitor their users' activity, this evidence underscores their intentional facilitation of their users' infringement. Third, respondents make money by selling advertising space, then by directing ads to the screens of computers employing their software. The more their software is used, the more ads are sent out and the greater the advertising revenue. Since the extent of the software's use determines the gain to the distributors, the commercial sense of their enterprise turns on high-volume use, which the record shows is infringing. This evidence alone would not justify an inference of unlawful intent, but its import is clear in the entire record's context. Pp. 20-23. (e) In addition to intent to bring about infringement and distribution of a device suitable for infringing use, the inducement theory requires evidence of actual infringement by recipients of the device, the software in this case. There is evidence of such infringement on a gigantic scale. Because substantial evidence supports MGM on all elements, summary judgment for respondents was error. On remand, reconsideration of MGM's summary judgment motion will be in order. Pp. 23-24. 380 F. 3d 1154, vacated and remanded. Souter, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court. Ginsburg, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which Rehnquist, C. J., and Kennedy, J., joined. Breyer, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which Stevens and O'Connor, JJ., joined. From vasumank at yahoo.com Tue Jun 28 06:28:43 2005 From: vasumank at yahoo.com (Vasuman Khandelwal) Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 17:58:43 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Commons-Law] An article an Economist.com reader. MGM Message-ID: <20050628005843.9191.qmail@web50905.mail.yahoo.com> http://www.economist.com/subscriptions/offer.cfm?campaign=168-XLMT THE MUSIC INDUSTRY Jun 27th 2005 America's Supreme Court has ruled that makers of peer-to-peer file-swapping technology can be held responsible for the copyright infringement that their products allow. This may stop much of the free downloading of music and film over the internet, but it will not cure the entertainment business's ills. Nor will it do much for innovation LAST weekend over 110,000 music fans paid GBP125 ($228) each to attend the Glastonbury festival in Britain's West Country and hear their favourite bands perform. In years gone by, many thousands more attended than paid, as less scrupulous festival-goers jumped the fence to watch the bands for free. The organisers stamped out the practice by building a bigger and better barrier. On Monday June 27th, a ruling by America's Supreme Court provided the entertainment industry with the means to build a bigger and better fence against the internet pirates who refuse to pay for music and film. The court's unanimous ruling said that Grokster and StreamCast Networks, two makers of file-sharing software, are liable for the breaches of copyright that their technology allows, thereby reversing the decisions of two lower courts. The case, originally brought by MGM, a big Hollywood film studio, was joined by 27 of the world's leading film and music companies. The ruling means that the file-sharing firms can be sued by entertainment companies for the theft of copyright-protected material using their software. The outcome will cheer a music industry that is in decline and a film industry that feels increasingly threatened by piracy. In the five years to 2003 worldwide music sales plunged by 22%, and in 2004 volumes were flat (supported by legitimate online music sales). The record industry largely blames piracy for its ills. Millions of music and film fans around the world use peer-to-peer (P2P) services, which let users rapidly swap music and video files directly with other individuals. Some 4m Americans swap files every day, according to Pew, an independent research organisation. Around the world some 2.6 billion songs and 12m films are downloaded every month, accounting for around half of all internet traffic according to some estimates. In over 90% of these cases, the files swapped infringe copyright protections. It is this high level of infringement that swayed the Supreme Court towards the view of the entertainment industry. The court considered the precedent of Sony's Betamax video-recording technology, which had faced a lawsuit brought by Disney and Universal in 1984 calling for a ban on the system because it would allow infringement of their copyrighted material. Then, the court concluded that Betamax had "substantial" non-infringing uses, such as the recording of TV programmes to be watched at a later, more convenient date. Proponents of P2P technology argued that it too has a variety of legitimate applications, including the distribution of licensed games, music, film and software, instant messaging and telecoms through computers using the "voice-over-the-internet" protocol. They also pointed out that legal devices such as CD burners and MP3 players could be used for copyright infringement as well as for lawful purposes. But the court was satisfied that copyright infringement was the main reason for the P2P software's existence. Justice David Souter wrote that: "Each company showed itself to be aiming to satisfy a known source of demand for copyright infringement." Before the Supreme Court ruling, the entertainment industry had taken other legal action to stop file-swappers. About 8,000 individuals around the world face lawsuits. The industry had Napster, the first popular file-sharing service, closed down in 2001 (though it has since returned as a legal downloading service); a judge issued an injunction to prevent Napster continuing in business, on the grounds that it had failed to use its central servers to block users who broke the law. Grokster and StreamCast tried to get around this objection by writing software that allowed files to be swapped without a central server. The threat of legal action against individuals has probably helped to make legal music downloading more popular. The IFPI, an industry body, says that the number of legitimate download sites has surged, and there were over 200m legal music downloads in 2004. Around 35% of music consumers now download tracks legally, according to a recent survey from Entertainment Media Research, a consultancy (though the number of users offering illegal files has also grown, to 8.6m compared with 6.2m a year ago). The Supreme Court ruling is set to have a devastating effect on P2P networks. Though hobbyists may continue to write file-sharing software away from American jurisdiction, reputable investors are likely to steer clear of any commercial P2P operations for fear of legal repercussions there. The legitimate uses for P2P technology will suffer a severe setback and developers of any future technologies will have to consider possible illegitimate applications before unveiling innovative software or gadgets. NOT QUITE THE VICTORY IT SEEMS But this blow against internet piracy may not be the magic bullet that the industry hopes will end its malaise. A Pew survey suggests that the swapping of music and film files doesn't just happen over file-sharing networks. Some 19% of downloads, involving about 7m individuals, now happen through someone else's iPod or MP3 player. Around 28% take place via email and instant messages. And quite apart from file-sharing, one in three CDs sold worldwide is pirated, according to the IFPI. Enforcement action to protect material under copyright has seen seizures of illegal CD-copying equipment double since 2003. Copyright theft through DVD piracy is equally worrying for the film industry, especially in countries like China, Indonesia and Mexico. Furthermore, legal downloading could cannibalise industry profits as fans are given the ability to pick and choose favourite tracks rather than having to buy whole albums. Indeed, advocates of P2P file-sharing insist that the option to sample for nothing an artist's oeuvre could work in the record company's favour as music buyers discover new favourites whose material they will subsequently pay for. Ultimately, many critics of the music business claim that its problems stem from an inability to produce a product that consumers want to buy, and that most illegal downloaders will flatly refuse to pay for unappetisingly packaged songs and films that they previously got for free. http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=4124724 --------------------------------- Yahoo! Sports Rekindle the Rivalries. Sign up for Fantasy Football -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20050627/5d919f58/attachment.html From prabhuram at gmail.com Tue Jun 28 15:02:45 2005 From: prabhuram at gmail.com (prabhu ram) Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2005 11:32:45 +0200 Subject: [Commons-Law] India and the IIM@WIPO- A question... Message-ID: <68752c9f0506280232664c8b0b@mail.gmail.com> Dear all, This is with reference to this opinion piece from TCS (see below). My question pertains to one particular paragraph, which mentions the recall of the two Indian delegates from IIM: -Quote- "Before the end of the three-day session it was clear the wind was coming out of the sails of some of the anti-IP nations. The two Indian delegates, who on the first day had spoken out in favor of the Brazil proposal, were recalled home by their government before the Inter-Sessional Intergovernmental Conference was even finished. Turns out New Delhi, which is hoping to make India as successful in biotechnology as it is with software, suddenly thinks intellectual property may not be so bad after all." -Unqoute- Does anyone have any more leads or details on this?? >TCS Joke on the Water Craig Winneker GENEVA -- Lovely as it is, perched on the calm and pristine shores of Lac Léman at the point where the glacial lake narrows back into the fast-flowing Rhône River, Geneva is a singularly boring place. In fact, with its alphabet soup of international organizations, the city does not just exude dullness, it thrives on it. This would be quaint (at best) or unimportant (at worst) if it weren't so potentially dangerous. It's easy to forget about or simply ignore the hundreds upon thousands of international diplo-crats who quietly populate the city's many assembly rooms and office corridors. Their world is designed to encourage un-interest in what is going on here. Let the experts get on with their complicated business - and let them enjoy high salaries and tax-free shopping while they're at it. One of the least sexy of Geneva's many institutions is the World Intellectual Property Organization, or WIPO for short (but not for long in francophone Geneva, where it is better to call it by its French acronym, OMPI). Despite its inherent air of bureaucracy and diplomatic tranquility, it's worth taking a look at this institution because it is at risk of being hijacked by an alliance of special interests who, though they promise to help the world's poorest nations, will hurt all nations, rich or poor, if they succeed. Most of a recent three-day WIPO confab, fetchingly billed as an "Inter-Sessional Intergovernmental Meeting on a Development Agenda for WIPO," was devoted to a new proposal put forward by Brazil that will radically alter the intellectual property debate. The so-called Development Agenda would require that in the future WIPO view its duties through the prism of developing countries' needs. At first blush, this sounds like a positive goal: everyone believes in helping the world's developing countries to take advantage of their natural talents. Unfortunately, for Brazil this means something else: a chance to justify the compulsory licensing of pharmaceuticals (and the wholesale violation of other types of copyright and patent protection) in many of these countries in the name of ensuring "access" to knowledge. In reality neither would happen. Instead Brazil, egged on by a group of non-governmental organizations whose agendas lean more towards supporting the violation of intellectual property rights-holders everywhere, aims to completely defang WIPO's role as a protector of IP. (Brazil, it is worth noting, is also a driving force in the global debate over agriculture subsidies, and some suspect it may use this WIPO agenda as a potential lever in some future pan-U.N. bid for increased influence.) A distinguishing characteristic of these low-profile working group meetings is that NGOs on both sides of the issue get to have their say during the proceedings. Many do so eloquently and with a lot more emotion than the actual delegates - who are mostly civil servants spouting national niceties. But the pro-piracy groups seem to have a lot more success driving the agenda. The concerns they trumpet in various pamphlets often turn up as discussion items for meeting sessions. (An amusing sign of their persistent obliviousness to The Real World: one anti-IP campaigner was handing out T-shirts at the meeting proclaiming support for "A2K", or access to knowledge. The manufacturer's label on the shirts listed at least two forms of trademark.) However, at this particular gathering, a side event organized by a pro-IP NGO, the International Chamber of Commerce, attracted an unusual amount of attention for the boldness of its premise: that an attack on IP rights is an attack on developing countries. It will hurt, rather than help, poor people. On hand to argue this point were representatives from the developing world who expounded forcefully in favor of IP protection: a producer of traditional Argentine music (Argentina is allied with Brazil and India in attempting to hamstring WIPO); an Egyptian filmmaker; a Brazilian mining company owner; an Indian pharmaceutical company executive. All described how they were using IP protection to enrich not only themselves but their employees, their communities, their societies. Also on hand was a man named Peter Bloch, who has had notable success in helping to alleviate poverty around the world. He does this not by reallocating wealth but by helping to create it - empowering people to earn money using the skills and unique resources they have at their disposal. In other words, he helps them to exploit their intellectual property. He told of his experiences with coffee growers in Ethiopia and tribes in the Amazon who had been using medicinal plants with potential anti-retroviral benefits. Bloch, a type-A personality used to getting results in the field, lamented the Geneva mindset in which he'd suddenly found himself. Instead of aiming for results, the diplo-crats were doing what they do best - talking procedure. "I was perplexed this morning," Bloch said of the WIPO meeting's first official session, "to hear a lengthy discussion about how something should be discussed." As a businessman, he was more used to fixing problems than talking about them. This was apparently the last straw for one Nigerian attendee of the side event, whose remarks at the end of the meeting produced a miniature breakthrough. In his bright blue-and-gold robe and cap, Usman Sarki, a minister in the country's permanent representation to the UN and a delegate to the WIPO meeting, stood out from the largely grey-suited crowd. What he said made even more of an impression than his regal attire. "I am hearing a lot of practical experience that will bring benefits to developing countries," he said, before suggesting that, rather than hold such discussions on the margins of WIPO meetings, perhaps the body should "devote an entire day to this discussion in its main session." You could hear the air being let out of the one or two anti-IP campaigners who'd deigned to show up for the presentation. They were further disappointed when the WIPO deputy-director-general promised to take the suggestion under consideration. Aside from seeking to shake up the protocol at such international meetings, Sarki also made a few arguments on the merits of the issue. He contested the idea that intellectual property rights somehow have been conjured up by rich nations as a way to keep poor countries down and prevent knowledge from spreading throughout the masses. In African tribes, he noted, a kind of IP protection has been practiced for generations, with important knowledge on medicine or folklore passed along through incantations and secrets. There was, he insisted, an intersection of interests between rich and poor nations. "Let's don't make this antagonistic," the Nigerian minister pleaded. There were other positive flashes at the three-day meeting. A group of Middle Eastern countries, led by Bahrain, countered Brazil's proposal with a resolution of their own. This document called for a constructive approach that, instead of abandoning the IP system, would help poor countries get the most out of it. It quite rightly noted that most of the world has benefited from IP protection and it would be a shame to abandon it on principle. Echoing the remarks of Egyptian filmmaker Mohammed Ramzy (who had declared during the ICC press conference that stealing "is a very, very big sin"), the Bahrain statement actually referred to the Koran in backing up its defense of IP rights. Put that in your nargileh pipe and smoke it. Before the end of the three-day session it was clear the wind was coming out of the sails of some of the anti-IP nations. The two Indian delegates, who on the first day had spoken out in favor of the Brazil proposal, were recalled home by their government before the Inter-Sessional Intergovernmental Conference was even finished. Turns out New Delhi, which is hoping to make India as successful in biotechnology as it is with software, suddenly thinks intellectual property may not be so bad after all. So the best thing to come from this meeting (another WIPO session on the Development Agenda is set for late July, so vigilance is still required in this fight) may be this: there are at least two fewer diplo-crats enjoying the dull but very good life on the shores of Lake Geneva. It's a start. -- Prabhu Ram, Max-Planck-Institut for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law, MarstallPlatz 1, 80539 Munich GERMANY Tel: + 49 89 24246226 Mob: + 49 17629830521 Web: http://infoserve.blogspot.com From pedro_paranagua at yahoo.com.br Wed Jun 29 05:20:59 2005 From: pedro_paranagua at yahoo.com.br (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Pedro_de_Paranagu=E1_Moniz?=) Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2005 00:50:59 +0100 Subject: [Commons-Law] India and the IIM@WIPO- A question... In-Reply-To: <68752c9f0506280232664c8b0b@mail.gmail.com> References: <68752c9f0506280232664c8b0b@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <42C1E263.2080905@yahoo.com.br> dear ram, it clearly seems another FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) strategy with bad humor 1. do not buy it; 2. regardless of india having or not a project on biotech. or any tech. for the future, the delegates attitude in wipo are the best for your country, no doubt; 3. india, like the group of friends of development, is not against IP, but rather, against its misuse and abuse. 4. indeed, unfortunately, there may have existed some phone call, just like in 1981 at the UN general asssembly for revising the paris convention, brazil, leading the G-77, was shut by a phone call from the brazilian president, who was in washington, once the US did not like to hear the voice from the South.... 5. do not buy it. pedro prabhu ram wrote: >Dear all, > >This is with reference to this opinion piece from TCS (see below). My >question pertains to one particular paragraph, which mentions the >recall of the two Indian delegates from IIM: > >-Quote- > >"Before the end of the three-day session it was clear the wind was >coming out of the sails of some of the anti-IP nations. The two Indian >delegates, who on the first day had spoken out in favor of the Brazil >proposal, were recalled home by their government before the >Inter-Sessional Intergovernmental Conference was even finished. Turns >out New Delhi, which is hoping to make India as successful in >biotechnology as it is with software, suddenly thinks intellectual >property may not be so bad after all." > >-Unqoute- > >Does anyone have any more leads or details on this?? > > > > > >>TCS >> >> > >Joke on the Water > >Craig Winneker > >GENEVA -- Lovely as it is, perched on the calm and pristine shores of >Lac Léman at the point where the glacial lake narrows back into the >fast-flowing Rhône River, Geneva is a singularly boring place. In >fact, with its alphabet soup of international organizations, the city >does not just exude dullness, it thrives on it. > >This would be quaint (at best) or unimportant (at worst) if it weren't >so potentially dangerous. It's easy to forget about or simply ignore >the hundreds upon thousands of international diplo-crats who quietly >populate the city's many assembly rooms and office corridors. Their >world is designed to encourage un-interest in what is going on here. >Let the experts get on with their complicated business - and let them >enjoy high salaries and tax-free shopping while they're at it. > >One of the least sexy of Geneva's many institutions is the World >Intellectual Property Organization, or WIPO for short (but not for >long in francophone Geneva, where it is better to call it by its >French acronym, OMPI). Despite its inherent air of bureaucracy and >diplomatic tranquility, it's worth taking a look at this institution >because it is at risk of being hijacked by an alliance of special >interests who, though they promise to help the world's poorest >nations, will hurt all nations, rich or poor, if they succeed. > >Most of a recent three-day WIPO confab, fetchingly billed as an >"Inter-Sessional Intergovernmental Meeting on a Development Agenda for >WIPO," was devoted to a new proposal put forward by Brazil that will >radically alter the intellectual property debate. The so-called >Development Agenda would require that in the future WIPO view its >duties through the prism of developing countries' needs. > >At first blush, this sounds like a positive goal: everyone believes in >helping the world's developing countries to take advantage of their >natural talents. Unfortunately, for Brazil this means something else: >a chance to justify the compulsory licensing of pharmaceuticals (and >the wholesale violation of other types of copyright and patent >protection) in many of these countries in the name of ensuring >"access" to knowledge. > >In reality neither would happen. Instead Brazil, egged on by a group >of non-governmental organizations whose agendas lean more towards >supporting the violation of intellectual property rights-holders >everywhere, aims to completely defang WIPO's role as a protector of >IP. (Brazil, it is worth noting, is also a driving force in the global >debate over agriculture subsidies, and some suspect it may use this >WIPO agenda as a potential lever in some future pan-U.N. bid for >increased influence.) > >A distinguishing characteristic of these low-profile working group >meetings is that NGOs on both sides of the issue get to have their say >during the proceedings. Many do so eloquently and with a lot more >emotion than the actual delegates - who are mostly civil servants >spouting national niceties. But the pro-piracy groups seem to have a >lot more success driving the agenda. The concerns they trumpet in >various pamphlets often turn up as discussion items for meeting >sessions. (An amusing sign of their persistent obliviousness to The >Real World: one anti-IP campaigner was handing out T-shirts at the >meeting proclaiming support for "A2K", or access to knowledge. The >manufacturer's label on the shirts listed at least two forms of >trademark.) > >However, at this particular gathering, a side event organized by a >pro-IP NGO, the International Chamber of Commerce, attracted an >unusual amount of attention for the boldness of its premise: that an >attack on IP rights is an attack on developing countries. It will >hurt, rather than help, poor people. > >On hand to argue this point were representatives from the developing >world who expounded forcefully in favor of IP protection: a producer >of traditional Argentine music (Argentina is allied with Brazil and >India in attempting to hamstring WIPO); an Egyptian filmmaker; a >Brazilian mining company owner; an Indian pharmaceutical company >executive. All described how they were using IP protection to enrich >not only themselves but their employees, their communities, their >societies. > >Also on hand was a man named Peter Bloch, who has had notable success >in helping to alleviate poverty around the world. He does this not by >reallocating wealth but by helping to create it - empowering people to >earn money using the skills and unique resources they have at their >disposal. In other words, he helps them to exploit their intellectual >property. > >He told of his experiences with coffee growers in Ethiopia and tribes >in the Amazon who had been using medicinal plants with potential >anti-retroviral benefits. Bloch, a type-A personality used to getting >results in the field, lamented the Geneva mindset in which he'd >suddenly found himself. Instead of aiming for results, the diplo-crats >were doing what they do best - talking procedure. > >"I was perplexed this morning," Bloch said of the WIPO meeting's first >official session, "to hear a lengthy discussion about how something >should be discussed." As a businessman, he was more used to fixing >problems than talking about them. > >This was apparently the last straw for one Nigerian attendee of the >side event, whose remarks at the end of the meeting produced a >miniature breakthrough. In his bright blue-and-gold robe and cap, >Usman Sarki, a minister in the country's permanent representation to >the UN and a delegate to the WIPO meeting, stood out from the largely >grey-suited crowd. What he said made even more of an impression than >his regal attire. > >"I am hearing a lot of practical experience that will bring benefits >to developing countries," he said, before suggesting that, rather than >hold such discussions on the margins of WIPO meetings, perhaps the >body should "devote an entire day to this discussion in its main >session." > >You could hear the air being let out of the one or two anti-IP >campaigners who'd deigned to show up for the presentation. They were >further disappointed when the WIPO deputy-director-general promised to >take the suggestion under consideration. > >Aside from seeking to shake up the protocol at such international >meetings, Sarki also made a few arguments on the merits of the issue. >He contested the idea that intellectual property rights somehow have >been conjured up by rich nations as a way to keep poor countries down >and prevent knowledge from spreading throughout the masses. > >In African tribes, he noted, a kind of IP protection has been >practiced for generations, with important knowledge on medicine or >folklore passed along through incantations and secrets. There was, he >insisted, an intersection of interests between rich and poor nations. > >"Let's don't make this antagonistic," the Nigerian minister pleaded. > >There were other positive flashes at the three-day meeting. A group of >Middle Eastern countries, led by Bahrain, countered Brazil's proposal >with a resolution of their own. This document called for a >constructive approach that, instead of abandoning the IP system, would >help poor countries get the most out of it. It quite rightly noted >that most of the world has benefited from IP protection and it would >be a shame to abandon it on principle. > >Echoing the remarks of Egyptian filmmaker Mohammed Ramzy (who had >declared during the ICC press conference that stealing "is a very, >very big sin"), the Bahrain statement actually referred to the Koran >in backing up its defense of IP rights. Put that in your nargileh pipe >and smoke it. > >Before the end of the three-day session it was clear the wind was >coming out of the sails of some of the anti-IP nations. The two Indian >delegates, who on the first day had spoken out in favor of the Brazil >proposal, were recalled home by their government before the >Inter-Sessional Intergovernmental Conference was even finished. Turns >out New Delhi, which is hoping to make India as successful in >biotechnology as it is with software, suddenly thinks intellectual >property may not be so bad after all. > >So the best thing to come from this meeting (another WIPO session on >the Development Agenda is set for late July, so vigilance is still >required in this fight) may be this: there are at least two fewer >diplo-crats enjoying the dull but very good life on the shores of Lake >Geneva. > >It's a start. > > > > > > _______________________________________________________ Yahoo! Acesso Grátis - Internet rápida e grátis. Instale o discador agora! http://br.acesso.yahoo.com/