From sunil at mahiti.org Tue Oct 2 00:17:08 2007 From: sunil at mahiti.org (Sunil Abraham) Date: Tue, 02 Oct 2007 00:17:08 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Has free music become a listener's birthright? Message-ID: <1191264429.5565.2.camel@hestia> http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/musicnightlife/2003905864_leaks30m.html By Stuart Eskenazi Seattle Times staff reporter A Sub Pop Records employee casually surfing various Internet music blogs last June came across it on a Radiohead fan site notorious for this kind of thing — an unauthorized free download of the entire Iron & Wine record "The Shepherd's Dog," which the label had scheduled for official release three months later. For the Seattle-based label, the question never was whether the album would leak — anticipated releases pretty much all do these days. It was a matter of when. Sub Pop execs figured maybe a month or month-and-a-half prior to the release date, which was last Tuesday. "Already?" Iron & Wine's manager reacted when told of the leak. "This soon?" In early summer, advance CDs of "The Shepherd's Dog" had been sent to the music press for review. Sub Pop traced the leak to a reputable Nashville music magazine. Its CD had been uploaded to a common server in the office and somebody grabbed the digital file, which eventually found its way onto the Internet, said Stuart Meyer, Sub Pop's manager of A&R (artists and repertoire). The recording industry is in a funk, dealing with sorely lagging sales and a generation of young consumers who consider free music their birthright. Now, it also must deal with the economics of new records getting leaked prematurely on the Internet. Labels can fight the unauthorized release of their music as they have in the past with nasty court battles that tarnished the industry's reputation. Or they can go with the flow, staying one step ahead of the leakers. Common sense suggests that album leaks can benefit both the label and the artist by providing exposure to the music, building good buzz for an upcoming release (assuming it doesn't suck). Hipster labels, such as Sub Pop, must tread cautiously. If they come down too forcefully against illegal downloading — and the music fans who do it — they could be seen as corporate money grubbers and lose the "indie cred" they depend on for their sustenance. Album piracy dates back to the days of Napster, a file-sharing service where users uploaded their favorite music so that others could enjoy it, too. The recording industry sued Napster and some of its users for copyright infringement, prevailing in a settlement that led Napster to reorganize. While Napster no longer is part of the album leak underground, it spawned other sites where users can download digital music files. Internet music blogs and forums — such as the Radiohead Web board where "The Shepherd's Dog" was leaked — serve as clearinghouses for leaks by either posting pirated mp3 files or links to file-sharing sites where they can be snagged. When Sub Pop got wind of the Iron & Wine leak, it contacted the offending blogs and Web sites to remove the link, which they did. But had damage to the future sales of "The Shepherd's Dog" already been done? Meyer doesn't think so. The Shins' "Wincing the Night Away" also leaked online three months before Sub Pop officially released it in January 2007. Yet it sold 120,000 units in the first week — a huge number for an indie release. Trying to stop leaks The industry has spent a lot of time and money coming up with ways to plug leaks, such as: • Encrypting advance CDs with watermarks so sources of leaks can be traced. • Limiting drastically the distribution of advance CDs to the most trusted of sources. • Making new records available in advance only as digital streams (the equivalent of listening to a song on the radio), which are nearly impossible to download. • Shortening the time between the distribution of advance music and record release dates. Sub Pop sent out a limited number of advance CDs for Band of Horses' Oct. 9 release "Cease to Begin," all of them watermarked. Most of the music press has received a link to a password-protected Web site, where Sub Pop is streaming the new record. When the new Iron & Wine leaked in June, Seattle's KEXP-FM played tracks off the illegally downloaded digital file until Sub Pop told them to quit. "When a record like that is out there, there is a certain demand that we should be playing it, particularly a station like ours," said Don Yates, KEXP music director. "Listener expectation is just getting stronger and stronger." Some labels are responding to leaks by adding trimmings to a CD when it ultimately is released, such as special packaging or a bonus disc, in hopes of boosting sales. Labels also are making free downloads of unreleased music available to fans. On its Web site, Sub Pop routinely posts a free mp3 track for every one of its releases prior to the record coming out. It also authorizes distribution of that unreleased track through podcasts, such as KEXP's "Song of the Day." In a few cases, Sub Pop has streamed an entire album on its Web site — "kind of beating people to the leak," Meyer said. "I think that's really a good thing to do. The way people think now is: 'If a journalist can hear the whole record before it's released, why can't I as a fan hear it?' " Justifying their ethics Music fans who download unauthorized album leaks defend their actions, even when the music they are downloading is of an artist they like and want to support. "I have justified it by going to live shows when the band is in town," said Dan Murphy, a 30-year-old student from Seattle. "More money goes directly to the artist that way, where they maybe get $1 for any record sale. But it's still wrong. It's still stealing." Throw something that's free in front of people, and it's like obsessive-compulsive disorder — they have to download it, said James Kirchmer, a 37-year-old Seattleite with a professional background in the local music scene. "They don't even know what they're downloading half the time," he said. Kirchmer said he has no ethical problem downloading album leaks because he believes the sound quality of the mp3 format is poor and a digital file has negligible value. He said his motivation is based on curiosity. He recently downloaded a poor-quality mp3 leak of an upcoming Robert Plant and Alison Krauss album but had not yet found time to listen to it. "Downloading really is a hassle," he said. "It takes up space on my computer. I'm downloading music just to check it out. If given the option to listen to a stream, I'd do that. "So what does that tell you? Am I stealing stuff? No. I just want to listen to the music, basically." Musicians differ Reactions vary among musicians whose music is leaked. When The Shins' James Mercer heard that his band's album leaked months in advance, his first question was whether those who illegally downloaded it liked it, Meyer said. Chris Martin, guitarist for the Seattle-based instrumental avant-rock band Kinski, said a bandmate discovered a leak of their new album, "Down Below It's Chaos," about a month before Sub Pop officially released it Aug. 21. "As far as our band is concerned, we don't really care that much," Martin said. "I think if you're really into the band and into the record, you're still going to want to buy the CD or vinyl for the sound quality." The records likely to be hurt by leaks are those getting negative buzz, he said. "If the record stinks, people are going to hear it and say, 'I'm not going to buy that,' " Martin said. "For good records, though, they could get a higher profile." Matt Herrebout, a photographer and Web designer who edits the Northwest Music Blog, said bands often contact him asking to be featured on his site. "I say to them, 'Give me good content and put it in the form of an mp3,' " he said. "Streams just don't cut it. Bands starting out often don't want to give up the goods but they should because nothing is better to promote a band than its music. "You're not going to get noticed if you hold back and are paranoid about your work." Will remove it Elbows (www.elbo.ws), a compiler of music blog posts and a popular repository to search for leaked music, has a breathless yet tortured justification on its FAQ for artists and labels that don't want their songs linked to or from the site: "Although Elbows is only meant to give our users a taste of something different so that they can discover new artists, buy their albums, tell their friends, go to their shows and make them pretty darn popular with little or no effort or budget on the part of the artist or label, we understand that there may be some legal issues with the tracks listed on the site. E-mail us ... and we will have it removed as soon as possible." Scott Lapatine, who founded the music blog Stereogum.com in 2003, recalls the carefree days when bloggers didn't bother obtaining permission for the digital music files they posted. Now that Stereogum is viewed as legitimately as Rolling Stone or Spin in influencing musical tastes, it has ceased posting album leaks and other unauthorized music files. Instead of hiding from the labels, Lapatine spends time negotiating with them to post exclusive, unreleased tracks on Stereogum before any other press gets them. "Once the promo [advance CD] goes out to everyone, it's going to leak, and once it leaks, in my readers' minds, it's old news," said Lapatine, of Brooklyn, N.Y. In effect, Lapatine is persuading the labels to beat unauthorized leakers to the punch by leaking with Stereogum first. Getting exclusive content is key for Stereogum because competition is intense, especially against music blogs that disregard copyrights and insist on posting illegal downloads. Stereogum does acknowledge unauthorized album leaks, however. A new feature on the site, "Premature Evaluation," reviews leaked records without posting the pirated files or links to the music. "It's out there," Lapatine said. "So we have to discuss it." Stuart Eskenazi: 206-464-2293 or seskenazi at seattletimes.com From rohangeorge at gmail.com Thu Oct 4 14:49:15 2007 From: rohangeorge at gmail.com (rohangeorge) Date: 4 Oct 2007 02:19:15 -0700 Subject: [Commons-Law] Do we like the same books? Message-ID: <20071004091911.53CAA2B293CE@mail.sarai.net> I just joined Shelfari to connect with other book lovers. Come see the books I love and see if we have any in common. Then pick my next book so I can keep on reading. Click below to join my group of friends on Shelfari! http://www.shelfari.com/Register.aspx?ActivityId=22465168&InvitationCode=e2590661-18c4-49d0-8af7-f465e8f9176c rohangeorge Shelfari is a free site that lets you share book ratings and reviews with friends and meet people who have similar tastes in books. It also lets you build an online bookshelf, join book clubs, and get good book recommendations from friends. You should check it out. -------- You have received this email because rohangeorge (rohangeorge at gmail.com) directly invited you to join his/her community on Shelfari. It is against Shelfari's policies to invite people who you don't know directly. Follow this link (http://www.shelfari.com/actions/emailoptout.aspx?email=commons-law at sarai.net&activityid=22465168) to prevent future invitations to this address. If you believe you do not know this person, you may view (http://www.shelfari.com/rohangeorge) his/her Shelfari page or report him/her in our feedback (http://www.shelfari.com/Feedback.aspx) section. Shelfari, 616 1st Ave #300, Seattle, WA 98104 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20071004/64b195a3/attachment.html From hbs.law at gmail.com Tue Oct 9 23:20:43 2007 From: hbs.law at gmail.com (Hasit seth) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 23:20:43 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Physics Nobel 2007 and Patents Message-ID: <8b60429e0710091050v264642a6t6236bc64e32b840e@mail.gmail.com> "France's Albert Fert and German Peter Gruenberg independently discovered a physical effect in 1988 that has led to sensitive tools for reading the information stored on hard disks. That sensitivity lets the electronics industry use smaller and smaller disks." That physical effect is called giant magnetoresistance. Fert and Guenberg jointly won the 2007 Nobel Prize for Physics. This is a prize that is given for basic scientific research in physics. Hard-disks won't be as small as they are today with so much capacity, and no iPods (hard-disk ones) would be there without giant magnetoresistance. Fert plans to use some bit of money to buy new sails for windsurfing. Gruenberg said something worth attention: He said the prize money would let him do research "without having to apply for grants for every tiny bit." He also said he knew early on that his discovery had commercial potential, which is why he secured a patent. "When you have three children, it feels good to have an extra income," he said of the profit from his patent. Doesn't this go against the stereotype of a "pure scientist" in basic sciences being not concerned about the real world applications of his or her invention? and hence having nothing to do with patents? Next time you want to propound that basic sciences are too "pure" to have anything to do with inventions, give it a little more thought... Regards, Hasit Link: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NOBEL_PHYSICS?SITE=IXPRS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20071009/855c1e48/attachment.html From anivar.aravind at gmail.com Fri Oct 12 00:08:47 2007 From: anivar.aravind at gmail.com (Anivar Aravind) Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:08:47 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Fwd: Final Solution revisited: An appeal from Rakesh Sharma Message-ID: <470E6DB7.1090700@gmail.com> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Final Solution revisited: An appeal from Rakesh Sharma Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:50:35 +0530 From: Rakesh Sharma *Many people responded to the first mail with queries. This new, revised mailer incorporates the answers. Please forward this appeal to other like-minded institutions, organisations and individuals as well. * Over the last couple of years, some of you have spoken to me about revisiting Final Solution and making a new film – /*Gujarat*//*: 5 years after the carnage*/. You'd be happy to know that I have been filming in Gujarat for the last several months for the follow-up film. The filming has been done in Modasa, Idar, Kalol, Halol, Godhra, Lunawada, Baroda, Chhota Udepur, Himmatnagar, Ahmedabad, Limdi, Bhavnagar, Amreli, Rajkot etc. We've already done a bulk of our filming, though we plan to continue filming till the election results are announced and the new Assembly is sworn in. We hope to offer a comprehensive film sometime next year. However, all of us in the team also feel that we must release at least a short version of the film /pre-elections/ to enable activists, NGOs and others to intervene during the electoral process by holding screenings and discussions. We aim to finish these in mid October and make them available on VCD. These early versions would be available only in Gujarati as they are most likely to be used in Gujarat during November 2007. I write to you to seek your assistance. While I have so far managed all the filming and editing related expenses personally (thanks to a grant from the Singh Foundation and damages received from NYPD!), I'm now seeking completion funds to be able to release the version in October. Broadly speaking, we propose the following: a. To approach a broad network of individuals and like-minded organisations and individuals for funding assistance. b. To invite contributions not exceeding Rs 10,000 from a single organization and Rs 5,000 from an individual. c. Against the contribution, the individual/ organisation will get a credit in the film. The title would normally read - " */Funding support from/*" followed by the full list. d. The individual/ organisation will also get VCD copies of the film against this contribution. The proposal is to offer * Contribution (individuals only): Rs 2000; VCDs offered: 21 * Contribution (organizations/ individuals): Rs 5000; VCDs offered:51 * Contribution (organizations only): Rs 10000; VCDs offered: 120 Cheques (Indian and non-Indian) should be made payable at Mumbai to Rakesh Sharma. Send us an email to get the exact mailing address for sending your cheques. We hope that these multiple copies would be distributed by the concerned organisation/ individual free to their activists, friends and colleagues so they can be circulated and screened widely, especially in Gujarat before the forthcoming elections. The VCDs offered are total number of discs - the first film is on 2 VCDs while the farmer film is on a single VCD (ie, each set is 3 VCDs). As the offer is to distribute/ circulate the copies only in Gujarat, do let me know where in Gujarat to send the VCDs of the new film once it is ready. For those who do not have any direct connections in Gujarat, the option is to donate the copies to an activist organisation like Anhad for their ongoing campaigns or one of the grassroots groups helping me film in Gujarat. We will send the VCDs directly to one of the groups on your behalf. We propose to have these VCDs become a part of the Pirate-and-Circulate campaign in Gujarat (Get-a-copy-free-if-you-promise-to-pirate-and-distribute-5-free-copies!). We tried this strategy successfully in 2004 with Final Solution - I urge you to support this piracy! I request you to lend your support to the films under production. Details about the proposed films are enclosed below. Please write to me personally at the earliest ( rakeshfilm at gmail.com or PO Box 12023, Azad Nagar, Mumbai 400053). Please forward the mailer to your mailing list. I am hoping you'd persuade many others to support the film! With Gratitude Rakesh Sharma website: www.rakeshfilm.com blog: rakeshindia.blogspot.com ps: Please do not circulate to the Press - we'd like no speculation or publicity till the films are formally released. We are aiming to finish only a version in end October – the Gujarati version (no English subtitles). Please note that this offer is for the circulation/ screening of VCDs of this version in Gujarat only – we wouldn't be mailing any VCDs to anyone outside Gujarat. Post-elections, when we actually do a final version of Final Solution revisited, we will make it available on DVD with English subtitles etc sometime in mid 2008. The films currently being edited for an October release deal broadly with the following: * * *After the Storm: * Five years after the carnage, what is the state of Relief and Rehabilitation? The Supreme Court's intervention in carnage-related cases has dominated media headlines, but what really is the true story behind the victims' quest for Justice? Away from major cases like the Naroda Patiya massacre or Gulberg or Best Bakery and Pandarwada, what is the fate of other FIRs and court cases filed by the victims? The film goes beyond highlighting the plight of the Muslim community in Gujarat. It probes other dimensions of the issue by specifically looking at the patterns of arrests and litigation. A majority of those charged with rioting, arson, murder etc are either tribals or Dalits and OBCs. An analysis of those arrested from 32 police stations in Ahmedabad suggests that of the 1577 detainees, only 30-odd were upper caste! Are these footsoldiers victims too? Cynically recruited, then discarded, left to rot in jails, what do the 'perpetrators of the violence feel today about the VHP and the BJP? The film is likely to be in two parts of approximately an hour each, both complete in themselves (to enable a separate showing of just one part, if necessary) and may possibly be split into two films. *Seeds of Sorrow:* Though the BJP romped home with a brute majority in the 2002 assembly elections, it suffered an electoral reverse during the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP managed to get 14 seats while the Congress won the other 12. The result is attributed in part to agitations by the Sangh's own Bharatiya Kisan Sabha, which was then agitating against the power tariff hike. In many pockets, it even asked its members to abstain from voting, which perhaps also explains the far lower turnout for the Lok Sabha elections. Over the last several months, we have been tracking what can only be termed as an unreported story - Farmer suicides in Gujarat . We have primarily been filming in the Saurashtra region, though suicides are not confined to this belt. A few months ago, we got queries filed under the RTI Act to dig up details of all suicides. Though the government denied us the data initially, after appeals and hearings, some details have now been formally handed to us. While Modi recently told the Gujarat Assembly that only 148 farmers have committed suicide in Gujarat, the data handed to us is for 366 suicides! We have also managed to dig up the data for all claims paid and denied under the Kisan Bima Yojana that cover farmers' accidental deaths. Of the 1200-odd claims, several have been denied – we are now probing the grounds of denial (eg, was it actually a suicide reported as an accident to help fudge the figures?) This film would also deal with the issue of farmer debts, BT cotton cultivation, power tariff, irrigation (where is the promised Narmada water?) and the opposition to SEZs in Rajula and Jasapara. (Apologies for any cross-posting) From rai.shailesh at gmail.com Fri Oct 12 07:46:10 2007 From: rai.shailesh at gmail.com (S Rai) Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 07:46:10 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] copyright claim over harry potter pandal Message-ID: <177e3ed00710111916j3b0497fejf2fa85591e02fcd7@mail.gmail.com> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7040191.stm Harry Potter and the Hindu gods [image: The structure in Calcutta built to resemble Hogwarts castle] The Hindu version of Hogwarts, under construction A community group in the Indian city of Calcutta says it has been sued by JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, for breach of copyright.* * The group has been building a huge model based on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as part of celebrations for a Hindu festival. A court in the capital, Delhi, will start hearing the case on Friday. Next week's Durga Puja festival is a huge event in eastern India - thousands pay homage to the Hindu goddess Durga. *Targeted* The BBC's Chris Morris in Delhi says that popular themes are recreated using massive models made of canvas, wood and papier mache. Our correspondent says that the festival has never been a problem before. [image: JK Rowling] JK Rowling is one of the world's most successful authors The community group is being targeted by lawyers representing Penguin India on behalf of JK Rowling and Warner Brothers who hold the rights to Harry Potter in India. Members say that they make a different model every year - in the past they have built the Titanic. This year they chose Hogwarts School - as well as life-size models of Harry Potter and his friends. Organisers said a mock steam engine train is also being constructed next to it, to resemble Hogwarts Express. Correspondents say the construction is nearing completion and is expected to cost around 1.2 million Indian rupees ($30,000). But it is argued that the organisers did not seek permission, and so are being sued for breach of copyright. *'Protect fans'* If the court orders any payment to be made, the group says it cannot afford it. "The summons has come at a time when the pandal (decorative structure) is almost ready. We don't know what to do now as we cannot afford to pay the fine," chief organiser Harinmoy Roychowdhury said. Media reports in India suggest that possible fines could amount to two million rupees ($50,000). [image: The Durga Puja in Calcutta] The Durga Puja festival is avidly celebrated in Calcutta Lawyers for JK Rowling say the money could well be donated straight to charity, but our correspondent says that plenty of people in Calcutta argue that JK Rowling and her lawyers are simply spoiling their fun. Penguin India's spokeswoman Nirmalya Roychowdhury told the Associated Press news agency that Delhi High Court has already ruled that the organisers of the Durga Puja festival must remove the display or pay the fine for copyright violation. "Sadly, the organizers of this large-scale commercially sponsored event did not approach us for permission to go ahead," Warner Brothers said in a statement in London. "This event falls outside the guidelines set up by Warner Bros., JK Rowling and her publishers to help charitable and not-for-profit organizations to run small-scale themed events that protect fans and allow everyone to enjoy Harry Potter books, films and events in the spirit in which they were created," the statement said. The four-day Durga Puja festival begins on 17 October and is the biggest Hindu festival in east India. In Calcutta alone, more than 10,000 structures have been set up. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20071012/08878dea/attachment.html From sollybenj at yahoo.co.in Fri Oct 12 08:17:15 2007 From: sollybenj at yahoo.co.in (solomon benjamin) Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 03:47:15 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Commons-Law] The Car, the Road, and the Road in the City: copyright claim over harry potter pandal In-Reply-To: <177e3ed00710111916j3b0497fejf2fa85591e02fcd7@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <971514.66421.qm@web8909.mail.in.yahoo.com> How far can they carry this ridiculous notion of ownership of intellectual property? – on the use of wizard’s witches and parts of folklore (certainly not concepts that Rowling/ Warner Brothers invented?). I wonder if the metaphor of the Car, the road, and roads in a city seem apt. Basically, for a car to operate, you need an underlying road (that is usually publicly funded – especially the ones that cars need!). And moreover, there is a larger social cultural context of Roads not being in a vacuum of outer space, but rather located often in cities of ‘places and spaces’. Thus, many who analyze the politics of transport ‘policy’ point to how huge public subsidies are implicit by way of the production of roads. Amitav Ghosh, in ‘The Indian Story’ pg. 35-37 in Civil Lines New Writing from India (Vol. 1 Ravi Dayal Publisher New Delhi 1994) points to how the ancient Indian panchatantra stories around animal fables inspired folklore from many parts of Europe and Africa. Perhaps, many have inspired in some ‘city’ spaces of the Puja pandal! If so, than this affair Rowling is involved in, could be seen as a continuation of an older arrogant colonial legacy where culture and inspiration has been narrowed down to ‘private property’. If so, in drawing on a rich folklore of magic and wizardry, did you pay any royalties to their sources, and is this at all possible? Second, and equally important, the willing audience who pays Rowling and her publishers big bucks per book, must also necessarily draw on a prior imaginary of folk lore of magic and wizardly, evil and good, before they can even understand what the Harry Potter stories are about. If so, than it stands to reason that both Rowling and her publisher (as a recipient of their big bucks when accumulated) and they who pay her for the books and the entertainment /emotions it stirs, have a joint obligation to a much wider heritage which binds all in what they choose to interpret as a purely commercial arrangement to privatize property from a larger ‘super-consciousness’ – somehow magically and via some corporate legalistic wizardry, this time to enrich the likes of her and Warner Corporation! An additional point derived from the above. In this arrogant stance and power circuits which we find Rowling and her publisher in, she is actually missing an opportunity to have her ‘creation/inspiration’ to be absorbed and embedded into a popular and vibrant culture. And in doing so, missing the chance to discover new channels by which these would be disseminated into wider, unknown, and probably more exciting avenues than those that can ever be imagined by the corporate managers of Warner Brothers and their likes! Some quick notes, after all the angry emotions that reading this stirred here among us! Jai Piracy! Solly --- S Rai wrote: > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7040191.stm > > Harry Potter and the Hindu gods > > > [image: The structure in Calcutta built to > resemble Hogwarts castle] The > Hindu version of Hogwarts, under construction > A community group in the Indian city of Calcutta > says it has been sued by > JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, > for breach of copyright.* > * > > The group has been building a huge model based on > Hogwarts School of > Witchcraft and Wizardry as part of celebrations for > a Hindu festival. > > A court in the capital, Delhi, will start hearing > the case on Friday. > > Next week's Durga Puja festival is a huge event in > eastern India - thousands > pay homage to the Hindu goddess Durga. > > *Targeted* > > The BBC's Chris Morris in Delhi says that popular > themes are recreated using > massive models made of canvas, wood and papier > mache. > > Our correspondent says that the festival has never > been a problem before. > > [image: JK Rowling] JK Rowling is one of the > world's most successful > authors > > The community group is being targeted by lawyers > representing Penguin India > on behalf of JK Rowling and Warner Brothers who hold > the rights to Harry > Potter in India. > > Members say that they make a different model every > year - in the past they > have built the Titanic. > > This year they chose Hogwarts School - as well as > life-size models of Harry > Potter and his friends. > > Organisers said a mock steam engine train is also > being constructed next to > it, to resemble Hogwarts Express. > > Correspondents say the construction is nearing > completion and is expected to > cost around 1.2 million Indian rupees ($30,000). > > But it is argued that the organisers did not seek > permission, and so are > being sued for breach of copyright. > > *'Protect fans'* > > If the court orders any payment to be made, the > group says it cannot afford > it. > > "The summons has come at a time when the pandal > (decorative structure) is > almost ready. We don't know what to do now as we > cannot afford to pay the > fine," chief organiser Harinmoy Roychowdhury said. > > Media reports in India suggest that possible fines > could amount to two > million rupees ($50,000). > > [image: The Durga Puja in Calcutta] The Durga > Puja festival is avidly > celebrated in Calcutta > > Lawyers for JK Rowling say the money could well be > donated straight to > charity, but our correspondent says that plenty of > people in Calcutta argue > that JK Rowling and her lawyers are simply spoiling > their fun. > > Penguin India's spokeswoman Nirmalya Roychowdhury > told the Associated Press > news agency that Delhi High Court has already ruled > that the organisers of > the Durga Puja festival must remove the display or > pay the fine for > copyright violation. > > "Sadly, the organizers of this large-scale > commercially sponsored event did > not approach us for permission to go ahead," Warner > Brothers said in a > statement in London. > > "This event falls outside the guidelines set up by > Warner Bros., JK Rowling > and her publishers to help charitable and > not-for-profit organizations to > run small-scale themed events that protect fans and > allow everyone to enjoy > Harry Potter books, films and events in the spirit > in which they were > created," the statement said. > > The four-day Durga Puja festival begins on 17 > October and is the biggest > Hindu festival in east India. > > In Calcutta alone, more than 10,000 structures have > been set up. > > _______________________________________________ > commons-law mailing list > commons-law at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/commons-law > DELETE button is history. Unlimited mail storage is just a click away. Go to https://edit.india.yahoo.com/config/eval_register From prashantiyengar at gmail.com Sat Oct 13 12:56:28 2007 From: prashantiyengar at gmail.com (Prashant Iyengar) Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2007 12:56:28 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] =?windows-1252?q?Delhi_HC=3A_Durga_pandal_can_displ?= =?windows-1252?q?ay_Potter=92s_Hogwarts_School?= Message-ID: <908adbd0710130026t14b45fc6wcb9793ad7803f573@mail.gmail.com> Publication: Times Of India Bangalore; Date: Oct 13, 2007; Section: Times Nation; Page: 9 Durga pandal can display Potter's Hogwarts School TIMES NEWS NETWORK Kolkata: Durga Puja committee of the Salt Lake FD Block here heaved a sigh of relief on Friday when the Delhi High Court dismissed the complaint by Penguin India, distributors of J K Rowling books, alleging copyright violation for setting up a pandal in the model of Harry Potter's Hogwarts School. They are now free to showcase the "Harry Potter" pandal, likely to be a hit this puja. "Now, we can rejoice. We never even imagined that such a furore would happen over selecting the theme of Hogwarts for Puja pandal. >From next time, the committee will be more careful in selection," said Shantanu Biswas, secretary of the puja committee. Soulful lighting and music will be part of the theme, Biswas said. "We were interested since after decades, Gen X has developed reading habit with the Harry Potter books. The committee members were only interested in popularising the character of Harry Potter even more and did not want to cash in on the Potter Mania," added Subrata Bhattacharya, the secretary of FD block. Many of the items which are there in the Hogwarts School, will find a place in the pandal. The magic broom, hanging magic candles, three-faced tigers as well as Harry himself will be a part of the decor. The 96-feet high pandal was again beaming with pink and yellow diffused lights on Friday evening. Children and locals were trying to catch a glimpse of the Potter train which is being built outside the main arena. The organisers had already spent a whopping Rs 8 lakh to create the mammoth structure. "We were getting jitters to even imagine in case of an adverse judgment, the whole construction had to be dismantled. Transport minister Subhas Chakraborty who is also a resident of the area assured us to lend his full support. The lawyers fought well in the court and ensured justice," says a much relieved secretary. Children are already making plans about when to visit the pandal. "We should come down during evenings since the illuminated structure will give us a feel of the real castle," said Ananda Ghosh, a seven-year-old student, to his friend while taking a trip around the unfinished construction work. The puja committee members are all set to work overnight to finish the remaining work as soon as possible. From lawrence at altlawforum.org Sat Oct 13 14:21:31 2007 From: lawrence at altlawforum.org (Lawrence Liang) Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:21:31 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Riots in Greece over death of Nigerian DVD pirate Message-ID: <47108713.5020900@altlawforum.org> From http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/guest-articles/riot-breaks-out-as-nigerian-immigrant-dies-in-g.html Riot Breaks Out as Nigerian Immigrant Dies in Greece PDF Print E-mail Monday, 20 August 2007 *ThisDay, August 20, 2007 - Forwarded by Phil Tam-Al Alalibo* Rioting broke out yesterday in the northern Greek port of Thessaloniki as Nigerians, mainly young demonstrators, confronted the Police in that country after the death of a Nigerian immigrant.Greek television showed footage of dozens of smashed windows and several damaged cars. Police said the victim, whose name has not been made public, had been selling CDs and DVDs illegally, and that he jumped from the first floor of a cafeteria to escape a police inspection. His injuries were fatal and he died on the spot. Afterwards, several dozen Nigerians and Greeks gathered there hurling abuses at police and throwing stones and wooden pickets at them. Immigrants told reporters at the scene that police in Thessaloniki "systematically" abused migrants. A few days earlier, police had beaten the victim, they said. Greek and Nigerian rioters then tore about the streets of Kalamaria, the suburb where the rioting broke out, "making smithereens out of everything in their path", reports said. The situation only calmed down early yesterday. Around one million migrants presently reside in Greece and account for about 10 per cent of the population, official sources said. Around 30,000 of those living in Greece are illegal, most of them victims of trafficking. Recently, police dismantled one of the largest human-trafficking and prostitution rings in Greece after a two-month investigation resulted in nine arrests in Greece and two in Ukraine. The 11 individuals from Greece, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Ukraine were charged with abduction, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, membership in a criminal gang, pimping and pandering, police said. The investigation culminated in a massive operation when police carried out simultaneous raids on 34 different locations in Athens under the supervision of Appeals Public Prosecutor Dimitris Pap Angelopoulos and the head of Athens' First-Instance Court, Public Prosecutor Panagiotis Poulios. Police said the 11 suspects lured women to Greece from Eastern Europe and the Balkans with false job promises and forged identity documents. Also, immigrants from Nigeria and Venezuela were arrested in bars, strip clubs and similar establishments and charged with facilitating vices and profiting from illegal sexual activity. From anivar at movingrepublic.org Sat Oct 13 17:32:00 2007 From: anivar at movingrepublic.org (Anivar Aravind) Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2007 17:32:00 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Interview with eben Moglen on Frontline Message-ID: <4710B3B8.8090906@movingrepublic.org> V. Sasikumar interviews Eben Moglen The spectre of free information "Free software that helps us reward artists is therefore a crucial part of the business of freeing art. And this is why I say in my writing that there is an inherent relationship between free software and free culture. Free software enables free culture. Without free software you can’t have free culture just as without free software you can’t have Google. They are interdependent properties, free culture and free software. And we have to have a common banner and we have to march under the same banner together. Because if we don’t tell people that we are inherently part of the same thing, if we can’t get that message across, they won’t figure it out for themselves." http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/stories/20071019507610000.htm From afish at uci.edu Mon Oct 15 10:59:32 2007 From: afish at uci.edu (Alli Fish) Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 06:29:32 +0100 Subject: [Commons-Law] BBC E-mail: Hindu group wins Harry Potter row Message-ID: <20071015_052932_039759.afish@uci.edu> Alli Fish saw this story on the BBC News website and thought you should see it. ** Hindu group wins Harry Potter row ** Lawyers for Harry Potter producers lose a law suit brought against an Indian group building a model Hogwart's school. < http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7041863.stm > ** BBC Daily E-mail ** Choose the news and sport headlines you want - when you want them, all in one daily e-mail < http://www.bbc.co.uk/email > ** Disclaimer ** The BBC is not responsible for the content of this e-mail, and anything written in this e-mail does not necessarily reflect the BBC's views or opinions. Please note that neither the e-mail address nor name of the sender have been verified. If you do not wish to receive such e-mails in the future or want to know more about the BBC's Email a Friend service, please read our frequently asked questions. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/4162471.stm From prashantiyengar at gmail.com Wed Oct 17 10:43:48 2007 From: prashantiyengar at gmail.com (Prashant Iyengar) Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:43:48 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Kerala: KSCSTE to frame IPRs policy Message-ID: <908adbd0710162213rd374b95m3463319d4123e08c@mail.gmail.com> http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/17/stories/2007101753020500.htm ICICI Bank Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram KSCSTE to frame IPRs policy Special Correspondent THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a move aimed at boosting grassroots-level innovation and promoting technology development, the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) has decided to formulate a policy on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). The first meeting of the advisory committee on IPRs under the council here on Tuesday decided to frame the policy in tune with the national and state policies. The committee chaired by A. Damodaran, Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore, recommended steps to make patent filing easy for students, researchers and grassroots-level innovators. It proposed the appointment of a Patent Attorney to simplify the filing procedures. The committee decided to focus on the protection of traditional knowledge systems in Kerala. Another major proposal was to appoint nodal officers in all the districts to reach out to the public. A special scheme to protect the Geographical Indications (GI) of the State like the Aranmula mirror or the Malabar pepper species is to b e framed for IPRs protection. (c) Copyright 2000 - 2007 The Hindu From rus.cahimb at gmail.com Fri Oct 19 11:05:51 2007 From: rus.cahimb at gmail.com (Ramanathan Muthaiah) Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:05:51 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Public Performance Rights : It may not be music to their ears Message-ID: THE HINDU's 17-October,2007 print edition covers about violations of public performance rights, citing, in this case, hospitals in Bangalore. Below is an excerpt from that article. For the complete new, refer to: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/17/stories/2007101762950400.htm "Karnataka - Bangalore It may not be music to their ears Sahana Charan Hospitals playing channelled music to soothe stretched nerves may be violating the law -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Around 10 hospitals in Bangalore are using pre-recorded music Not a single hospital has applied for licence under the Copyright Act -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BANGALORE: Music is a great way to calm your frazzled nerves when you are ill and many corporate hospitals in the city have caught on to the trend of playing soothing melodies as part of therapy. But did you know that all establishments, including hospitals, which play pre-recorded music on their premises, have to compulsorily get a licence from Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) to do so? Not many do. And probably that is the reason why not a single hospital in Bangalore has applied for a licence under the Copyright Act, 1957, to play pre-recorded music in the form of gramophone records, music cassettes or CDs, despite it being mandatory. Copyright Act PPL is a copyright society with respect to sound recordings, headquartered in Mumbai and is registered under the Government of India. Under the Copyright Act, PPL is the only organisation in the country authorised to administer the Broadcasting/Telecasting and Public Performance Rights on behalf of 137 music companies in India who are its members, including HMV (Saregama), Tips, Sony Music, BMG Crescendo and Universal among others. Any broadcast of Indian or international music from sound recordings of PPL members in public places including hotels, restaurants, cinema halls, discotheques, hospitals and nursing homes without permission constitutes an infringement of copyright under the Act. Such violation is a cognisable and non-bailable offence, attracting heavy penalty." (c) Copyright 2000 - 2007 The Hindu From rus.cahimb at gmail.com Mon Oct 22 19:22:47 2007 From: rus.cahimb at gmail.com (Ramanathan Muthaiah) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:22:47 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] : RIM taking it to Samsung Message-ID: RIM and Samsung are entangled in a trademark dispute over the word "Black". For a complete overview on the trademark controversty, refer to: http://ipnewsblog.com/index.php/2007/04/05/rim-taking-it-to-samsung/ NOTE: URL to the ComputerWorld article embedded in the blog posting does not provide any information but leads to "Page requested not found". (c) Pierce Law IP News Blog From rus.cahimb at gmail.com Tue Oct 23 06:20:28 2007 From: rus.cahimb at gmail.com (Ramanathan Muthaiah) Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 06:20:28 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] : DNA Fingerprinting & GI Message-ID: THE HINDU, in it's print and Internet edition dated 20-Oct,2007 carries an article on DNA fingerprinting and it's relevance to Geographical Indications. http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/20/stories/2007102054080400.htm Excerpt from the article: "The measure has been precipitated by the rapid destruction of the Western Ghats and the high demand for medicinal plants from drug manufacturers." "... other medicinal and aromatic plants in the Western Ghats that are facing extinction of ""mesua," "punnaga," "lodra," "kampilaka," "maramanjalu," and "agarbathi gida" (agar wood tree), "cancer gida" (mapia), "noni," "trichopus" and "nagakesara." Within the same article, an additional note, available in a boxed format, is on DNA fingerprinting. http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/20/stories/2007102054540400.htm (c) COPYRIGHT THE HINDU From prashantiyengar at gmail.com Tue Oct 23 21:24:47 2007 From: prashantiyengar at gmail.com (Prashant Iyengar) Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:24:47 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] OpenJudis - Central Information Commission Message-ID: <908adbd0710230854i21ce6c5em1a631210cb066156@mail.gmail.com> Dear All, As some of you may know, over the past year I've been running a free website of Indian Supreme Court Judgments at http://judis.openarchive.in I've recently diverted my attentions to the decisions of the Central Information Commission and I'm glad to report that I've just finished programming a database/search engine of CIC Decisions that you can download and install on your hard drive for free (Windows Only). The installation file can be downloaded at http://judis.openarchive.in/CIC.exe (17Mb approx/10-15mins on 256kbs connection) The database contains full texts of over 5000 RTI decisions and is fully searchable. Screenshot available here : http://judis.openarchive.in/openjudisrti.jpg Note that I haven't yet made this database available online and it is only available in its offline form. Hope this will be of use to Information activists in India. Look forward to receiving feedback on this. Regards, Prashant Ps. You may also download the Supreme Court version of OpenJudis (including about 23000 full texts of the Supreme Court) at http://www.nlshare.nl/files/details/4353/openjudissetup.exe . (330 Mb) For this you will also need to separately download and install Swish-e for windows :http://www.swish-e.org/distribution/swish-e-2.4.5-win32.exe (4.5 Mb) From paivakil at yahoo.co.in Tue Oct 23 22:07:23 2007 From: paivakil at yahoo.co.in (Mahesh T. Pai) Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:07:23 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] OpenJudis - Central Information Commission In-Reply-To: <908adbd0710230854i21ce6c5em1a631210cb066156@mail.gmail.com> References: <908adbd0710230854i21ce6c5em1a631210cb066156@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20071023163723.GA2436@nandini.home> Prashant Iyengar said on Tue, Oct 23, 2007 at 09:24:47PM +0530,: > download and install on your hard drive for free (Windows Only). > The installation file can be downloaded at > http://judis.openarchive.in/CIC.exe (17Mb approx/10-15mins on 256kbs > connection) Why don't you simply put up a database dump of the decisions in, a format importable into, say, PostGreSQL / MySQL??? Somebody may even bother to help you create a web based front end to access this. Note that both PostgreSQL and MySQL will run on WIndows too. That way, your maintenance effort will be divided into (a) providing diff files for new decisions; and (b) maintaining the front end. My guess that you will get plenty of help in maintaining and updating (b). -- Mahesh T. Pai <<>> http://paivakil.blogspot.com/ DICTIONARY, n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. From prashantiyengar at gmail.com Wed Oct 24 00:06:43 2007 From: prashantiyengar at gmail.com (Prashant Iyengar) Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 00:06:43 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] OpenJudis - Central Information Commission In-Reply-To: <20071023163723.GA2436@nandini.home> References: <908adbd0710230854i21ce6c5em1a631210cb066156@mail.gmail.com> <20071023163723.GA2436@nandini.home> Message-ID: <908adbd0710231136n54dabea3td9e0729b610896be@mail.gmail.com> Hi Mahesh, Not sure what you mean. This software that I'm distributing works without the necessity of installing any server like mysql or apache or postgresql. If you're suggesting that I distribute mysql dumps so that Linux users can install it on their systems, even that will not be necessary because I'll shortly be posting instructions on how one install this database on a Linux/Apache/PHP system (without Mysql, but with a search engine called Swish-e). I don't need help coding front ends. The one that comes with this software (remodelled from the one on the site judis.openarchive.in) has all the features anyone will need although it may not win awards at a beauty contest. Nothing prevents people with a rudimentary knowledge of HTML and javascript from changing it to suit their aesthetic sensibilities. After a lot of experimenting with mysql, I decided against using it on a large scale. Mysql's fulltext search leaves MUCH to desire when you're working with 20000 files with an average of 30k.The mysql servers that most shared web hosting services provide usually breakdown very frequently and are not reliable at all for this kind of use. In addition, for an offline version, windows users would need to install a mysql/apache server on their systems with all of its inherent security implications.They are not particularly easy to install as well and tend to be memory hogs. I'm not averse to developing on the Gnu/Linux environment. All the coding/cleaning up for this project was done primarily on Fedora. However I think that a large number of users in India use Windows as the default OS and I also recognize that typically the kind of people who will be the users of this software will be the activist types for whom installation and operation has to be made as simple and straightforward as possible. The software I'm distributing may not be the objectively "perfect" way of implementing such a thing, but I'm hoping it will be useful nonetheless. Also, and importantly, everything I'm putting up has the potential of being reused and repackaged by others into their own software - a prospect I eagerly look forward to. Incidentally, I'm not sure if you've checked the site judis.openarchive.in yet, but I've had mysql dumps of Supreme Court cases and Madras High Court cases up there for almost a year. So there's that option for you as well. Thanks for the interest! Prashant On 10/23/07, Mahesh T. Pai wrote: > Prashant Iyengar said on Tue, Oct 23, 2007 at 09:24:47PM +0530,: > > > download and install on your hard drive for free (Windows Only). > > The installation file can be downloaded at > > http://judis.openarchive.in/CIC.exe (17Mb approx/10-15mins on 256kbs > > connection) > > Why don't you simply put up a database dump of the decisions in, a > format importable into, say, PostGreSQL / MySQL??? > > Somebody may even bother to help you create a web based front end to > access this. Note that both PostgreSQL and MySQL will run on WIndows > too. > > That way, your maintenance effort will be divided into (a) providing > diff files for new decisions; and (b) maintaining the front end. My > guess that you will get plenty of help in maintaining and updating (b). > > -- > Mahesh T. Pai <<>> http://paivakil.blogspot.com/ > DICTIONARY, n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the > growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. > _______________________________________________ > commons-law mailing list > commons-law at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/commons-law > From paivakil at yahoo.co.in Wed Oct 24 07:40:47 2007 From: paivakil at yahoo.co.in (Mahesh T. Pai) Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 07:40:47 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] OpenJudis - Central Information Commission In-Reply-To: <908adbd0710231136n54dabea3td9e0729b610896be@mail.gmail.com> References: <908adbd0710230854i21ce6c5em1a631210cb066156@mail.gmail.com> <20071023163723.GA2436@nandini.home> <908adbd0710231136n54dabea3td9e0729b610896be@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20071024021047.GA6320@nandini.home> Prashant, First, my apologies if my mail hinted about your programming capabalities; that was not my intention. Yes, I did intend that the database is available to users of GNU/Linux systems, and as an ardent user of GNU/Linux, I do feel that lack of specialised software for accessing Indian legal databases is a major obstacle in acceptance of FOSS in Law offices /and/ courts. I am aware of judis.openarchive site; and I do appreciate and thank you for your efforts in providing *and* maintaining it. Do keep your excellent work up. Prashant Iyengar said on Wed, Oct 24, 2007 at 12:06:43AM +0530,: > Linux users can install it on their systems, even that will not be > necessary because I'll shortly be posting instructions on how one > install this database on a Linux/Apache/PHP system (without Mysql, but > with a search engine called Swish-e). Yes, that is more than sufficient. Thanks in advance. Err .... if you had said in the first mail, I would have waited patiently .... > I don't need help coding front ends. The one that comes with this > software (remodelled from the one on the site judis.openarchive.in) > has all the features anyone will need although it may not win awards > at a beauty contest. It is is useful, functional and enough when I need it. , And, guess I should explain why I asked for a GNU/Linux version - I happen to be an AIO without even a typewriter in my office, (No longer in practise). As a matter of principle I use only FOSS at my home. And I am very much eager to have a look at the decisions. If I were working at some other office / location than I am now, I may not have access to even the text of the RTI act. On one occassion, when I was working at a remote place, I had to spend 3 hours on my personal mobile phone to get a friend to read out the relevant parts of the RTI Act. This was a situation when the request was of a questionable nature, and I did turn down the application ;( -- Mahesh T. Pai <<>> http://paivakil.blogspot.com/ ``Those willing to give up a little liberty for a little security deserve neither security nor liberty'' From prashantiyengar at gmail.com Wed Oct 24 11:34:36 2007 From: prashantiyengar at gmail.com (Prashant Iyengar) Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:34:36 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] OpenJudis - Central Information Commission In-Reply-To: <20071024021047.GA6320@nandini.home> References: <908adbd0710230854i21ce6c5em1a631210cb066156@mail.gmail.com> <20071023163723.GA2436@nandini.home> <908adbd0710231136n54dabea3td9e0729b610896be@mail.gmail.com> <20071024021047.GA6320@nandini.home> Message-ID: <908adbd0710232304l31ac8f55uf63b7bfbe82e8678@mail.gmail.com> Thanks Mahesh. And no apologies required. I greatly prefer this conversation to a passive audience. :) Your mail has atleast made me conscious that my application has a Linux-based audience and I should be doing more to help them out. It has also made me aware exactly of how useless it is in certain situations like the one you mentioned! Will work on this and come up with something very soon. Regards, Prashant On 10/24/07, Mahesh T. Pai wrote: > Prashant, > > First, my apologies if my mail hinted about your programming > capabalities; that was not my intention. > > Yes, I did intend that the database is available to users of GNU/Linux > systems, and as an ardent user of GNU/Linux, I do feel that lack of > specialised software for accessing Indian legal databases is a major > obstacle in acceptance of FOSS in Law offices /and/ courts. > > I am aware of judis.openarchive site; and I do appreciate and thank > you for your efforts in providing *and* maintaining it. Do keep your > excellent work up. > > Prashant Iyengar said on Wed, Oct 24, 2007 at 12:06:43AM +0530,: > > > Linux users can install it on their systems, even that will not be > > necessary because I'll shortly be posting instructions on how one > > install this database on a Linux/Apache/PHP system (without Mysql, but > > with a search engine called Swish-e). > > Yes, that is more than sufficient. Thanks in advance. > > Err .... if you had said in the first mail, I would have waited > patiently .... > > > I don't need help coding front ends. The one that comes with this > > software (remodelled from the one on the site judis.openarchive.in) > > has all the features anyone will need although it may not win awards > > at a beauty contest. > > It is is useful, functional and enough when I need it. , > > And, guess I should explain why I asked for a GNU/Linux version - I > happen to be an AIO without even a typewriter in my office, (No longer > in practise). As a matter of principle I use only FOSS at my home. And > I am very much eager to have a look at the decisions. If I were > working at some other office / location than I am now, I may not have > access to even the text of the RTI act. On one occassion, when I was > working at a remote place, I had to spend 3 hours on my personal > mobile phone to get a friend to read out the relevant parts of the RTI > Act. This was a situation when the request was of a questionable > nature, and I did turn down the application ;( > > -- > Mahesh T. Pai <<>> http://paivakil.blogspot.com/ > ``Those willing to give up a little liberty for a > little security deserve neither security nor liberty'' > _______________________________________________ > commons-law mailing list > commons-law at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/commons-law > From rus.cahimb at gmail.com Wed Oct 24 22:50:03 2007 From: rus.cahimb at gmail.com (Ramanathan Muthaiah) Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 22:50:03 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] : Open Content Alliance Message-ID: Heise online, in the English pages, http://www.heise.de/english, reports about Max Planck Society (MPG) terminating licensing contract with Springer publishing house. Amongst other things, Heise reports that, " "Even at the very last minute the Springer publishing house had not been prepared to lower its inflated prices," MPG Vice President Kurt Mehlhorn said. "The MPG therefore had had no other option but to terminate the contract," he added. " Full report is available at: http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/97652 The same report also observes that, " . . . MPG is one of the initiators of the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and the Humanities . . ." On the same subject of this e-mail, The Net York Times dated 22-Oct,2007 has an article on page 1: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/technology/22library.html From sunil at mahiti.org Wed Oct 24 22:54:11 2007 From: sunil at mahiti.org (Sunil Abraham) Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 22:54:11 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] Fwd: open position: Intellectual Property (IP) Policy Expert for TACD Message-ID: <1193246651.5469.49.camel@hestia> -------- Forwarded Message -------- From: Vera Franz To: ipr&publicdomain Subject: open position: Intellectual Property (IP) Policy Expert for TACD Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 18:18:51 +0100 Please circulate freely: Intellectual Property (IP) Policy Expert The Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) is a forum of US and EU consumer organisations coordinated by Consumers International that develops and agrees joint consumer policy recommendations directed to the US government and European Union to promote the consumer interest in EU and US policy making. As part of its work, the TACD organises several meetings, conferences and workshops each year involving governments, consumer groups, industry and other key stakeholders. For more information please visit www.tacd.org. Consumers International is looking for an experienced and highly motivated professional for secondment to a member of the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue to support their IP working group (IP WG). This is an exciting opportunity to work within a creative and dynamic team offering a varied portfolio of policy and advocacy work. There is a strong possibility the position will be based in Brussels; however, flexibility in location is a possibility depending on the candidate. The position will involve travel, including to Washington, D.C. An attractive remuneration package is offered. Please see the full job description below. Applications (CV, letter of motivation and names of two referees; no photos) should be sent to: Julian Knott, Consumers International, 24 Highbury Crescent, London, N51RX or by e-mail to jknott at consint.org (subject: IP Policy Expert). Deadline for applications to reach us: 2 November 2007. Only applicants who are selected for an interview will be contacted. The dates of the first round of interviews will be confirmed in due course. JOB DESCRIPTION Job title: Intellectual Property Policy Expert Location: Brussels Reports to: Co-Chairs of TACD IP Working Group Duration: 1 year contract with possibility for extension Main responsibilities: • Assist with TACD IP policy development and strategic planning; • Supporting and building on the ongoing work of the TACD IP Working Group, establishing policy positions for future work, and elaborating campaign and advocacy strategies; • Helping to organize consultations and follow-ups with US and EC IP policy makers; • Providing strategic input to the organisation of TACD IP events, including input on the overall agenda, the specific topics to be discussed, and identifying possible speakers; • Advocating and campaigning for changes in EU and U.S. policies based on the identified IP WG priority areas; • Research, policy tracking and briefing of TACD participants on key IP policy issues; • Disseminating policy recommendations on priority areas and event reports (internally: website, list-serves, newsletters, tele- conferences; and externally: website and relations with governments, media and other relevant stakeholders); • Facilitating dialogue amongst the existing network of EU and U.S. consumer organisations, via electronic list-serves and face-to-face meetings; • Planning and delivering a media strategy to further the influence of TACD's recommendations on IP issues. Profile: Essential • Experience in advocating policy positions; • Strong commitment to furthering the goals of the international consumer movement; • Degree-level education; • Excellent written and spoken English; • Highly motivated and a good communicator; • Proven ability to manage and prioritise a varied portfolio of work; • Proven ability to work on own initiative as well as part of a team; • Proven ability to deliver tangilble results; • Able to travel frequently, in particular to the U.S. Desireable • Sound and proven expertise in IP issues in particular copyright and patents; • Experience working with or for International Institutions, EU and/ or U.S. Government; • Experience in campaigning or advocacy; • Language skills, in particular French or Spanish; • Awareness of consumer policy issues; • Experience in the non-profit sector. Tasks: In particular, the IP policy expert will be responsible for the following tasks: • Moving the Paris Accord forward: Coordinating and drafting a top level statement on the Paris Accord and negotiating its implementation with key stakeholders. (The Paris Accord is an initiative aimed at establishing a set of principles that recognize the creative community's desire to earn a living, the interest of the public in obtaining affordable access to works, and the interests of both parties in supporting an environment for creativity and innovation. For further information please visit http:// www.cptech.org/a2k/pa/); • Assisting in the development of research based positions on the economics of copyright; • Working on key agenda items at the World Intellectual Property Organisation; • Working on the copyright acquis in the EU; • Supporting the policy initiatives on research and development and pharmaceuticals; • Undertaking official reporting duties for the IP WG grants. - -- Sunil Abraham, sunil at mahiti.org http://www.mahiti.org Director - International Relations Mahiti Infotech Pvt. Ltd. "Vijay Kiran" IInd Floor, 314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, INDIA Ph/Fax: +91 80 51150580. Mob: (91) 9342201521 http://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilaabraham From patrice at xs4all.nl Thu Oct 25 01:08:44 2007 From: patrice at xs4all.nl (Patrice Riemens) Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:38:44 +0200 Subject: [Commons-Law] Angostura Bitters and IP... Message-ID: <20071024193844.GB38452@xs4all.nl> As I am savouring a 'Pegu Club Cocktail' (kind of acquired taste, but goes down well after a while - recipe below), I am reminded of the text on my bottle of Aromatic Bitters, which is not 'the' well-known brand (now owned by monster TNC Diaego) but comes from the obscure Chilean firm which invented the stuff in the first place: Virgilio Brusco & Sons, from the port city of Valparaiso ('Valpo' for intimi, like 'Cal' or "Kay El', or 'Gabs', for that matter ...) . Here's what's written on their label (never seen so much text on one...): "In its (the stuff) fabrication we use, among other aromatizers, the bark of the _Cusparia Febrifuga_ , a well-known plant that grows at the mouth of the Orinoco River, down North under in the exhalirating climate of Venezuela. This plant is mostly sourced from the town Ciudad Bolivar, whose name used to be the one which, in Castillian (ie Spanish, but never use that word in Latin America) refers to the place where a river becomes narrow (in Sp.. sorry, Castillian: 'se angosta'). This common vocable in our dictionary to refer to the popular name of the Cusparia Febrifuga, and which can be uttered freely, we cannot use to designate our product, since it has been trademarked by a foreign firm." You got it, in my house bar, the only bitters are from 'Licores Aguila" - along with Turkish State Monopolies Gin, and Eritrean Ouzo ('Zibib'), not to forget 'Old Monk' Rhum and assorted IMFL brands of course... Cheers indeed, patrizio and Diiiinooos! Pegu Club Cocktail: 60ml Gin 25 ml Orange Curacao 25 ml fresh lime juice Dash of 'Angostora' (see above) Bitters All in cocktail shaker with ice, shake & serve in chilled glass garnish with a lime wedge. (bwo of the wall Street Journal. "we hackers ...." etc.) From kalakamra at gmail.com Tue Oct 30 12:23:12 2007 From: kalakamra at gmail.com (shaina a) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:23:12 +0530 Subject: [Commons-Law] CAMP Mumbai on FRIDAY Message-ID: <33eee40c0710292353u4b4f52abnfa58b64ff0949627@mail.gmail.com> Dear readers, The usual apologies for cross-posting. Announcing the launch of CAMP Friday, November 2, 2007. 6:00 pm. at Jnanapravaha, 3rd floor Queens mansion, (opp. new Chemould), G. Talwatkar Marg Fort, Mumbai.-1 CAMP is a new city-based initiative around art, media and technology practices, in collaboration with the Khoj International Artists Association. www.camputer.org CAMP's founding members are: Shaina Anand, filmmaker, artist and media activist, founder of www.chitrakarkhana.net Sanjay Bhangar, who trained in indymedia and urban studies, now works as an independent web developer and technology writer. Ashok Sukumaran, who trained as an architect and artist, and now develops speculative technical and conceptual projects. http://0ut.in The evening consists of an extended screening-cum-talk by the CAMP initiators, as an introduction to the context, politics and practices that CAMP will promote. This includes a discussion of Chitrakarkhana's ongoing work with alternative cable TV and CCTV systems, a social history of the internet in Bombay as told by Sanjay Bhangar, and Ashok Sukumaran's recent projects around electrical redistribution, and design. They will also discuss the CAMP program for this year, and invite participation in various forms. The program will be interrupted by refreshments. ______________ About CAMP: CAMP is a platform to organise, and then to do, things that are critical, egalitarian and inspirational, within the city. It seeks to promote such artistic and media practices that build interfaces between themselves and urban activities at various scales. This project is being undertaken with a broad shared experience (among CAMP members, its advisors and peers) of the "digital moment" of the past decade. CAMP promises bold interpretations of current socio-economic and technology contexts, and their various micro-political implications. CAMP will begin its relationship with various Mumbai publics through 'weekends', fortnightly events that look intensively at specific histories, futures, and areas of multi-disciplinary collaboration. For example there are planned weekends around the history of broadcast as an artistic medium, on the art market, on building technological "confidence", on censorship, on local-area networks, on various kinds of maps, rooftop "real-estate" surveys and so on, mostly with an orientation towards practitioners and projects. While CAMP is beginning with such small-scale activities, it also seeds two long term projects: a) New Documentary: On the future of the documentary image, in times of video's material abundance.To produce, receive and redistribute video by adopting a range of existing technigues and technologies. This is related to chitrakarkhana's ongoing work, and will address a range of artistic, ethical and pragmatic questions around video. b) On Design: on what "making things for others" means now, when you- and i- can both seemingly contribute. The project will engage with questions of "participation" and of how knowledge moves across different forms, through institutional and pedagogic interventions into the broad field of activity presently known as Design. And finally, on its name: CAMP has various possible "backronyms", a large number in fact. This came from our inability to claim a singular identity within a field of ideas, to say that this and not that, is what will actually happen with CAMP. For more see www.camputer.org/?acronyms=many -- chitrakarkhana.net camputer.org