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Tag Archives: UN
Some pointers on European Software Strategy, WIPO and further reading
It’s been one of “those” months. Again. First and foremost, the European Software Strategy has taken up a lot of time and energy for myself and others in FSFE. Having been invited to contribute our expertise to the process of … Continue reading
Posted in DG INFSO, European Union, Free Software Foundation Europe, United Nations, WIPO
Tagged EU, Fellowship, Free Software, Free Software Foundation Europe, Politics, UN, WIPO
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Topic of 2009: Interoperability
It seems the topic of 2008 will also be the key topic of 2009. This is hardly surprising. Interoperability is at the connecting point of innovation and standardisation, of Free Software and proprietary software, of SME’s and large enterprises, and … Continue reading
Posted in DG Competition, DG INFSO, European Union, Free Software Foundation Europe, IDABC, IGF, United Nations, WIPO
Tagged EU, Interoperability, Open Standards, UN, WIPO
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An emerging understanding of Open Standards
Open Standards have been somewhat of a holy grail for some time now. Interoperability and vendor-independence, the IT industries’ equivalent of eternal life, are the prize for those who find the grail that are Open Standards. This conquest took decades, … Continue reading
Tagged EU, IGF, Open Standards, UN, WIPO
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WIPO GA: Current situation, and FSFE’s statement
The good news first: The outcome of the Development Agenda discussions has been accepted by the Assembly of the Member States of WIPO, so there is now formally a Development Agenda for WIPO to discuss the substantial issues. Definitely a … Continue reading
Tagged Open Standards, UN, WIPO
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WIPO GA: Starting off by grinding to a halt
The 2007 general assembly of the UN WIPO started off yesterday by grinding to a halt over accusations against WIPO director general Kamil Idris, who apparently changed his officially recorded birth date. The United States wants that issue discussed and … Continue reading
So this is what hit Microsoft…
The past two months have been interesting in the Chinese sense. A primary culprit of that was Microsoft’s failed attempt to push their proprietary MS-OOXML format through ISO. But there were also talks and meetings with ministers (see [1][2]) to … Continue reading
Tagged Antitrust, EU, Free Software, Fun, Microsoft, Open Standards, UN, WIPO
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UNESCO publishing paper on “Ethical Implications of Emerging Technologies”
UNESCO has published a paper on "Ethical Implications of Emerging Technologies" which follows up on discussions during the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF). The paper also talks about the OLPC project … Continue reading
Tagged Free Software, Politics, UN
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Why criticise OpenXML now?
Some people raised the question why I have chosen to become verbal about OpenXML and Novell’s activities to include support for it in OpenOffice.org, and whether this has to do with the MS/Novell deal and the related public outcry. The … Continue reading
Tagged Antitrust, Free Software, IGF, Microsoft, Open Standards, Politics, UN
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Internet Governance Forum: Open Standards, A2K and Conclusions
The first Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is now over after two more rather busy days. Time for some recap, some announcements, and some conclusions. Wednesday, 1 November: day 3 The big news in the morning of the third day was … Continue reading
Tagged Free Software, IGF, Politics, UN
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Internet Governance Forum, day two
The second day of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was partially strange, partially funny, and indeed quite productive. The day began with a main hall session about “Openness”, the whole protocol of which is already online here. As one might … Continue reading
Tagged Free Software, IGF, Politics, UN
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