[Sigiii-l] Plaza : Fwd: Nature: WIPO to Address Free Public Goods

[Barry Mahon]

>===8<==============Original message text===============
>
>From: James Love
>To: CNI-COPYRIGHT -- Copyright & Intellectual Property 
>Sent: 7/10/03 7:03 PM 
>Subject: Nature: Drive for patent-free innovation gathers pace -  Kamil
>Idris is being asked to assess the merits of an open approach to
>intellectual property
>
>Nature reports that WIPO has agreed to organize the meeting on open
>development models... jamie
>
>* Francis Gurry, an assistant director-general at the WIPO, said that the
>organization welcomed the idea.?The use of open and collaborative
>development models for research and innovation is a very important and
>interesting development,? he said in a statement. ?The director-general
>looks forward with enthusiasm to taking up the invitation to organize a
>conference to explore the scope and application of these models.?
>
>in html
>
>> http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?
file=/nature/journal/v424/n6945/full/424118a_fs.html
>or in pdf
>> http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?
file=/nature/journal/v424/n6945/full/424118a_fs.html&content_filetype=PDF
>

You will probably be aware that the meeting planned by WIPO has now been cancelled 
following pressure from the US on behalf of some US software suppliers. The reason 
for the pressure and the cancellation is that certain commercial software suppliers do 
not wish to see any discussion take place on the subject of 'open source' 

In parallel a vote due to take place in the European Parliament on extending European 
patent law to include the possibility of patenting software (it is possible in some 
Member States, not in others) was postoned following significant objections to the draft 
Directive by various grouings including academics and others who took the view that 
computer routines they used in day to day experimentation  might become subject to  
licensing. The pressure followed the case in the US where Microsoft was required to 
pay more than $500m to a University campus company for infringement of patents that 
existed on some routines built in to Internet Explorer. 

Barry Mahon, ICSTI, Paris