Finally I found a clean and easy way to convert those mp3 files I had ripped from my CDs onto my laptop (note the fair use) in those bad old Windows days to the free .ogg format. No more patent encumbered music formats for me. The mp32ogg package does just what its name says. It’s Read more »
So the Grokster case is decided: The US Supreme Court says that companies that make filesharing software and run a filesharing network are to be held responsible for copyright infringements by their users. This is a fundamental change in direction from the famous Betamax case, where the same court ruled that VCR makers were not Read more »
Manning the booth by day and rocking out with FSFE and friends by night, Linuxtag took me to my limits. A lot of people were interested in our work and the Fellowship. Reflecting the current status of the issue, software patents in Europe were also a focal point of interest. Especially people running small or Read more »
Now there’s a good overview of the WIPO IIM/2 on heise.de (in German). With respect to another event, Markus Beckedahl of the excellent netzpolitik.org blog (also in German) is keeping you informed about what happens at the GNU/Linuxtag. Despite a complete power failure in the Swiss railway network, which had us stranded in Basel for Read more »
This summary is somewhat long. If you prefer pure entertainment to the fascinating, fast-moving UN processes, treat yourself to unhappybirthday.com. I already linked there a few months ago; but then, it really conveys in a nutshell one of the problems of the present copyright system. Now for the serious part. The three days of the Read more »
After submitting several pages of fudge on Monday, calling it a proposal, the distinguished representative of Bahrain had to take some criticism from other Arab countries, such as Egypt. The latter observed that the Bahrain proposal contradicted on several accounts the final statement of the Second South Summit in Doha, Quatar, on June 16th, which Read more »
With the free world busy fighting the communists, it seems that the Cold War has survived its end in the real world by a decade and a half. If you ask the part of lobbying organisms that call themselves free-marketeers, the present tensions in WIPO are really a fight between “pro-IP” freedom fighters and “anti-IP”, Read more »
And I thought that after one and a half days of procedural discussions, the delegates would finally get on with discussing about the Development Agenda. They made an attempt at it, but delays continue. After having discussed one point – that charming proposal by the USA to throw a website at the Knowledge Gap -, Read more »
The morning went much like informed people predicted. It is all about procedural issues, so that the room is filled with tactical maneuvering. Argentina, most likely for the Friends of Development, had yesterday refused the Chairman’s notion to move discussion to informal groups, where there would be no documentation. This would have the advantage that Read more »
Sorry for not posting earlier. Yesterday evening became a bit hectic when, to pretty much everyone’s surprise, the country delegations kept their comments so short that all of a sudden the NGOs were invited to make their statements. As many of us had estimated that it would be Tuesday afternoon before we got to say Read more »