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[Fwd: [ffii] Economist Critic of Software Patents gets Nobel Prize]

by Thierry Coutelier

======================================================================= Economist Critic of Software Patents gets Nobel Prize ======================================================================== Brussels, Oct 17, 2007 -- The FFII congratulates Eric S. Maskin, an economist who has long criticised the patenting of software, for receiving the 2007 Nobel Prize for Economics. Prof. Maskin and two colleagues receive the Prize for research into the optimal design of economic mechanisms. By applying his theory to the IT sector, Maskin demonstrated "that in such a dynamic industry, patent protection may reduce overall innovation and welfare." The FFII has consistently argued that the patent model of broad 20-year monopolies is completely inappropriate for the fast-moving software sector. In its campaigns against software patents, the FFII has emphasised that they are an impediment to innovation. FFII president Pieter Hintjens says, "Software patents freeze innovation in areas where they are heavily used, such as multimedia or GSM. In unpatented fields, such as e-mail, web, messaging or peer to peer, innovation is fast, valuable and promotes competition." Small-and-medium sized businesses are especially harmed, says Hintjens: "large firms can afford the legal structures, and the heavy cost of patenting and litigating. Small innovative firms cannot and are kept out of the market." Recent studies in the USA also showed that less than 20% of software startups take software patents, four years after receiving venture capital investment. FFII founder Hartmut Pilch explains, "software patents are used by giants such as Microsoft and IP trolls such as Acacia. We don't see them creating any value for society or economy, except for some lawyers." The introduction of software patents in the USA provided a rare experimental test for Maskin's theory: "... when patent protection was extended to software in the 1980s, [...] standard arguments would predict that R&D intensity and productivity should have increased among patenting firms. Consistent with our model, however, these increases did not occur." The Nobel award highlights the solid scientific and economic basis on which the FFII demands a modern and innovation-friendly patent system. Thanks to people like Prof. Maskin, our understanding of the effects of the patent system has progressed, but the European Commission is still pushing for ever more and cheaper monopolies without any effective limits to either subject matter or inventivity, and the EPO continues to "interpret" the European patent law to grant thousands of legally dubious software patents each year. Both institutions pretend that this is in the interest of innovation and productivity in Europe, while it in fact hurts Europe's innovators and industry. The FFII calls on the Commission to finally acknowledge the insights of people like Prof. Maskin and abandon its naive proliferation policies: "How much more proof is it needed? If IT professionals, economists, and entrepreneurs - and now even a Nobel laureate - agree that software patents are bad for business and innovation, the Commission should take the hint and act to abolish software patents." ======================================================================== Background Information ======================================================================== Together with his colleagues Leonid Hurwicz and Roger Myerson, Eric Maskin has been awarded the "Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2007", commonly (and inaccurately) known as "Nobel Prize in Economics". In a joint paper with James Bessen, Maskin argues that standard reasoning about patents is not applicable to the software and computer industries. Whenever innovation is "sequential and complementary" (as is the case in the IT sector) "imitation becomes a //spur// to innovation, whereas strong patents become an //impediment//". The European Commission has been openly pushing for the legalisation of software patents with the Software Patent Directive in 2004/05 and by its support for the European Patent Office (EPO)'s proposal for an European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA) in 2007. The FFII was among the leaders of successful campaigns against both attempts to open the floodgates to software patents in Europe. ======================================================================== Links ======================================================================== * Nobel Prize Announcement http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2007/press.html * Bessen, James E. and Maskin, Eric S., "Sequential Innovation, Patents, And Imitation" (January 2000). MIT Dept. of Economics Working Paper No. 00-01. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=206189 * Digital Majority article on VC funded software startups http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-13940/study-shows-most-vc-funded-sof… * Permanent link to this press release http://press.ffii.org/Press_releases/Economist_Critic_of_Software_Patents_g… ======================================================================== Contact information ======================================================================== Benjamin Henrion FFII Brussels +32-2-414 84 03 +32-484-566109 bhenrion(a)ffii.org (French/English) ======================================================================== About the FFII ======================================================================== The FFII is a not-for-profit association active in over fifty countries, dedicated to the development of information goods for the public benefit, based on copyright, free competition, and open standards. More than 850 members, 3,500 companies and 100,000 supporters have entrusted the FFII to act as their voice in public policy questions concerning exclusion rights (intellectual property) in data processing. _______________________________________________ FFII Press Releases. (un)subscribe via https://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/news, or contact media(a)ffii.org for more information.

18 years, 2 months

Re: [Lilux-info] [Lilux-admin] LinuxDays 2008

by Eric Dondelinger

Hi again, On Mon, Sep 24, 2007 at 11:33:38AM +0200, Eric Dondelinger wrote: > for the next LinuxDays, there will be a "Desktop" track > where the LinuxDays ask us (LiLux) specifically for help > with that part. I didn't get any input just yet on what > "desktop" is to be, but I'll forward any info as soon as > I get it. > > What's for sure is that any submission we might want to > make will have to be submitted in time via the online > form that's soon going to be made available. We won't be > part of the event if we miss that deadline. > > Submission deadline: 15.11.2007 > > Date of the Event: 19th (Tuesday) and 20th (Wednesday) > of February 2008 The Call for Papers is online by now: http://www.linuxdays.lu/call-for-papers/linuxdays-2008/ As said in the last meeting, if you'd like to present a full desktop environment or more specific applications, please inform us and submit it to the LinuxDays team. It might be helpful if the application(s) presented weren't already subject of presentations or tutorials previously (such as GIMP, OOo, Digikam). Greetings, Eric

18 years, 2 months

/. : 1-Click Rejection Rejected

by Serge Marelli

1-Click Rejection Rejected <http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/28/1216246> USPTO reexamins the rejection of Amazon's patent... seems that "it wasn't obvious to them what the Examiner found obvious" That's pretty bad news upcoming. Serge ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Gates, Microsoft CEO, 1991: "If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today’s ideas were invented and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete standstill today... A future start-up with no patents of its own will be forced to pay whatever price the giants choose to impose." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Serge Marelli, Luxembourg ----------------------------------------------------------------------

18 years, 2 months

Spiegel.de & Ubuntu test

by Eric Dondelinger

Hi, the online edition of the german "Spiegel" magazine is running a series of articles about a switch to Ubuntu, starting with: http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/tech/0,1518,506386,00.html It's in german, written from a beginner's perspective. Greetings, Eric

18 years, 2 months

Acer et Vente liée

by Jule Gorgievski

Un bonne nouvelle pour les vaillants combattants contre la vente liée : Acer condamné ! En France bien sur... http://www.pcinpact.com/actu/news/39057-detaxe-april-aful-acer.htm

18 years, 2 months

Job offer

by Serge Marelli

Bonjour Une de mes connaissances cherche pour un projet longue durée chez un de ses clients un informaticien connaissant BO & Java/JSP - un univers BO à maintenir - une application JSP en ligne permet aux end users de sélectionner divers critères afin de construire une requête qui va interroger la base pour construire un rapport statistique. ça intéresse quelqu'un ? Serge ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Gates, Microsoft CEO, 1991: "If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today’s ideas were invented and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete standstill today... A future start-up with no patents of its own will be forced to pay whatever price the giants choose to impose." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Serge Marelli, Luxembourg ----------------------------------------------------------------------

18 years, 2 months

[Fwd: News on Tux Droid - The Linux smart companion]

by Thierry Coutelier

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 I already ordered one :) Don't tell me wife ;) For immediate release, thank you to pass the info. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * * * KYSOH ANNOUNCES THE BETA RELEASE OF TUX GADGETS MANAGER** Transforming Tux Droid in a real smart companion * *Mons, Belgium, September 19, 2007*– Revealed at OSCON 2006 and Commercialized in March 2007, Tux Droid quickly became very popular in Europe. He made the cover of magazines in France, Germany and Italy. Launched as a wireless programmable robot specifically designed for the Linux platform, Tux Droid becomes today a smart companion providing a new way to access the digital world without sitting in front of your computer. Looking as a cute penguin resembling the Linux mascot, Tux Droid reacts to PC events and talks in more than 10 different languages. Based on the widgets principle, Tux Gadgets are mini-applications that reside on users desktops and delivers a variety of personalized information such as email, weather forecast, horoscope, media player, news, games, quizz etc. through Tux Droid. The Gadgets are easily accessible with the remote control. In order to manage easily the different gadgets, Kysoh has also developed a graphical interface called Tux Gadgets Manager. These gadgets are developed in a TGF (Tux Gadget Format) format, made in the spirit of ODF file and provides a wide range of actions such as : * Let users modify and configure Gadgets without any programming skills. * Let users modify easily the graphical interface to customize it as they want. * Let users add new gadgets (available on the community website) by a simple drag and drop. *About Tux Droid* Linux is becoming more than just a free operating system for the masses. Geeks and open source enthusiasts are quite persistent when it comes to use Linux on every possible electronic device. PDA’s, I-pod’s even Sony’s AIBO, no electronic gizmo remains safe for the Linux community. And naturally the electronics suppliers are rarely very forthcoming with information on how to get Linux inside their protected products. And it’s exactly at this point Kysoh makes the difference. Tux Droid is a smart device talking, squawking, wings flapping, eye flashing penguin that you can control remotely. Send it events or updates about website or have it read your RSS streams as they come in with the built-in text-to-speech synthesizer. WiFi is not a requirement as it comes with its own wireless solution you can plug in any USB port. The architecture is completely open; all software, codes, scripts and datasheets are provided freely on the community website www.tuxisalive.com <http://www.tuxisalive.com/>. Tux Droid is also provided with a complete toolkit allowing programmers to develop their own functionalities: * Let Tux Droid dance when you get an e-mail * Use its infra-red to program Tux Droid as a guard dog to scare away intruders * Program Tux Droid to function as an alarm clock * Take Tux Droid to your bathroom and listen to any broadcast radio * With its remote control, simply use Tux Droid as a remote control for your PC * With its full duplex 2.4 GHz wireless link, use Tux Droid as a wireless VOIP With an ever growing community, you can also find every week new scripts (and very soon new gadgets) on the community website. *About Tux Gadget Manager* TGF files take the format of a ZIP compressed archive containing a number of files and directories as the graphical resources, the content internationalization, the scripts, the sounds etc. These gadgets are executable by the Tux Applications Framework. This amazing framework is an application launcher dedicated to Tux Droid. It allows to execute several applications in the same time and to share the resources provided by the daemons. In order to manage easily the different gadgets, Kysoh has also developed a Meta-Gadget called Tux Gadgets Manager. This meta gadget is based on the same TGF format and run on the top of the framework. Users can then also modify easily the Tux Gadgets Manager to customize it as they want. The manager offers a vocal menu and shortcuts to access the different gadgets through the remote control. * About Kysoh* Kysoh SA was founded in the summer of 2005 with the goal to develop and market high tech electronic devices for the Linux community. The product line will range from cutting edge programmable interfaces for personal computers to stand alone electronic entertainment devices. Kysoh wants to become a premiere provider of entertainment solutions for the Linux and the Free Software community. They plan to offer high quality, funny and unusual products integrating new technologies and dedicated to entertainment for an affordable and moderate price. Tux Droid is now exclusively sold through the website of the company: _www.kysoh.com <http://www.kysoh.com/>_. The price is 79 Euros. *Media contact* Kysoh SA Rue René Descartes, 1 Hall 4 B-7000 Mons Belgium Ph.: +32 65 595626 Fax: +32 65 595636 E-mail: info(a)kysoh.com Website: _www.kysoh.com <http://www.kysoh.com/>_ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is not a Spam, if you don't want to receive any info about Tux Droid, please feel free to reply to this e-Mail. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Fedora - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFG8n6VPOfrcNNQX7oRAusQAKCqvge/xFIvKhob5Qs7olOa5Di8owCcDgNZ JNXKDUGM/NBkVM6ECXa9Q+U= =M4dq -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

18 years, 3 months

Next Meeting: Friday 28th 20.00 in LGL: Joomla

by Alain Knaff

Our next meeting is on _Friday_ September 28th in the LGL. Pitt will present us Joomla, focussing especially on our new Lilux site. (Yes, this is really Friday. It's not a typo; for Pitt it is easier to do it on Friday) Alain

18 years, 3 months

RedHat et le Ministère de l'Education en France

by Jule Gorgievski

Je crois que l'on peut appeller cela une "victoire"... http://www.pcinpact.com/actu/news/38651-education-nationale-Red-Hat-Enterpr… J.

18 years, 3 months

Journal "Phenomensal" (organe de Mensa Luxembourg).

by Brent Frère

Article "Informatique et dictatures" Voir page 15. http://bfrere.net/Phenomensal/Pheno_2007_02.pdf -- Brent Frère Private e-mail: Brent(a)BFrere.net Postal address: 58, rue d'Esch L-3720 Rumelange Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg European Union Phone: +352-20.20.22.69 Fax: +352-26.30.05.96 URL: http://BFrere.net If you have problem with my digital signature, please install the appropriate authority certificate by browsing https://www.cacert.org/certs/root.crt.

18 years, 3 months

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