Bonum Certa Men Certa

Passing Intellectual Monopoly Laws Using Propaganda Terms, Political Corruption

Harsh realities

The mainstream press seems to have picked up the scent of a very hot topic. Some important publications, such as the Financial Times, have turned their attention to those who endorse the message of monopolies/oppressors using daemonisation terms or -- contrariwise -- glorification terminology. Here are some good examples that political blogger are all too familiar with.



One sure sign of a lack of political vision is a rise in the number of pieces of acronymic legislation. After September 11, the US Congress passed the euphoniously named “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act” the initials of which spell out “USA – Patriot.” The Patriot Act is a pretty bad piece of legislation, but at least its drafters worked hard on the acronyms so that opponents could be labelled “anti-patriot” – a perfect level of analysis for Fox News. Admittedly, in this administration, having public officials torturing acronyms rather than detainees might be counted as a plus, but I still find the whole practice distasteful. I'd suggest that politicians vow to vote against any piece of legislation with its own normatively loaded acronym, no matter how otherwise appealing. It might make them focus a little more on the content.

In any event, Congress has been at it again. The House just passed, and the Senate is considering, the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 – or “Pro-IP” Act. (If it passes, a version is sure to be urged on Europe as a matter of “harmonisation.”) Are you pro-intellectual property? Then surely you must be for this piece of legislation! The name says it all.


This will hopefully raise more people's awareness. Harmonisation in this case is somewhat like the joining of oxygen and methane. Not every combination is a healthy one, especially knowing what we already know about people who scream in protest against the USPTO. It is a system whose poor state is irreparable, having permitted too many people to invest in patents that should not have been granted in the first place.

We shall continue to keep track of those who are involved in ruining the system on a global scale for smaller players to suffocate [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. It's well disguised and a lot is happening behind closed doors.

Apropos -- patents are not unique here; it has been the same problem when it comes to copyrights. According to Larry Lessig, such corruption is very common. He's venting backed by historical evidence.

On a massive display screen, he [Larry Lessig] loaded up a portrait of legendary New England statesman and eventual Secretary of State Daniel Webster, whose professional conflicts of interest would have been enough to make even the most lukewarm of political bloggers cringe.

"Bribery wasn't even a crime in our Congress until 1853. The 19th century was a cesspool of this kind of corruption," Lessig explained. "Up to 25 percent of the voters literally sold their votes. I'm not talking about a golden past."

[...]

"Just putting money on the table removes the conditions of trust," Lessig said. "Money destroys the opportunity for trust. Eighty-eight percent of the people in my district believe they have their votes bought."

[...]

He left his role as founder and CEO of copyright reform advocacy group Creative Commons in April to focus on Change Congress.


Over at IEEE Spectrum (latest issue), more problems with the intellectual monopolies systems get highlighted, but it's not specifically about software patents.

You can learn a lot by searching patents, but what you learn can sometimes be dangerous. If a court should ever find that you infringed on a patent knowingly, you might have to pay triple the damages, together with attorney fees.


The message to a programmer (in the US, Australia, Japan, etc.) seems clear:



OR



Some laws are simply too ridiculous -- if not impossible -- to comply with and obey. Welcome to a world where mathematics is a minefield because politicians are foolish enough (or compensated sufficiently) to do the unimaginable.

"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."

--Bill Gates



No Patents in Linux

Recent Techrights' Posts

Twitter as X-Rated Hatred: Criticising Microsoft is Not OK, Calling for Beheadings (With Bounties on People's Heads) is OK
Twitter automation missed 'hit job' advertising
Balancing Activism Against (or With) Basic Necessities and Daniel Cantarín on Our Collective Battle for Software Freedom Around the World
"I'm VERY angry about lots of stuff happening here in Argentina, all of it shielded behind the word "freedom"."
 
Links 16/08/2024: YouTube Bans and Surveillance Expanded
Links for the day
We Were Right All Along and the Collaborators of Microsoft Helped Competition Crimes of Microsoft
Once again vindicated regarding UEFI "secure boot"
[Meme] The New Windows Slogan
stat me up
Addendum: Associate's Notes on Free Software as a Labour Issue and the Connectivity Swindles
these are related issues/causes
Microsofters Infiltrating Roles of Authority and Government Positions to Protect Microsoft and to FUD Microsoft's Competition
friends of Microsofters who bully me and my wife
Links 16/08/2024: UK Skills Deficit and Kim Dotcom to be Extradited to the US (for Doing the Same Stuff GAFAM Does)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/08/2024: Overgeneralisation and Games
Links for the day
Russia's Yandex 5 Times Bigger Than Microsoft... in Ukraine
They'd rather rely on the Kremlin than on Microsoft
[Meme] Gemini is Different, So What?
different, not worse
Now It's "Official": Over 4,000 Known Gemini Capsules in Lupa
For the first time ever
Clown Computing
Reprinted with permission from Dr. Andy Farnell
[Meme] What Freedom Means to IBM
Free labou
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 15, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, August 15, 2024
From 99% in 2012 to 27% in 2024: How Microsoft Lost Georgia
What we're seeing is a migration from Windows to other platforms, notably GNU/Linux
To Understand Cisco's Mass Layoffs Look at the Company's Soaring Debt (Same at Microsoft)
Look what's happening to Intel - down almost 60% since the start of the year, 57% to be precise
Windows Flying Low at 25%
It's another all-time low
[Meme] Long Texts You Never Bother Reading (Because Life is Too Short, Unlike Those Texts)
The devil is in the terms of service
Links 15/08/2024: Monkeypox Hysteria and Modern Homesteaders Living Off the Grid
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/08/2024: Confession of a Convention Game Master and Some Release nostalgia
Links for the day
Congratulations to Romania, Where Windows is Now "Minority Market Share" Platform
Time will tell if GNU/Linux can pass 5% on the desktop/laptop "form factor" there
Why It Matters That 4,000 Gemini Capsules Are Known to Lupa and Why Gemini Protocol Matters to Us
I have no doubt Gemini Protocol will continue to expand because it solves a real problem
Links 15/08/2024: Avast Surveillance Scandal Unsolved and Facebook Still Censors Terror Sympathisers
Links for the day
Daniel Cantarín's Response to Alexandre Oliva's Talk on Achieving Software Freedom in the Age of Platform Decay
Soylent News caught up with the series
4,000 Gemini Capsules
it's basically one capsule short of 4,000
"Microsoft is a Sponsor of The New Stack."
Many articles turn out to be just ads
New Highs for Android in Russia, But It's Reportedly Working on Its Own Linux-Based Operating Systems (GAFAM-Free)
statCounter isn't equipped to properly parse user agents or to keep up
Upcoming Series: Terms of Service (TOS) Under the Microscope, FSF Party, GitHub Scandals, Clowns, and More
Right now we have way more material than we have time to cover. But that's a good thing.
Gemini Links 15/08/2024: Lies of Therapy and Web Applications
Links for the day
Software Freedom in Perspective - Part 5 - When Richard Stallman Came to Argentina
It might seem a bit harsh, but a discussion at the end of this series will tie things together and explain why those things were said
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 14, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Russia develops an alternative to Android and iOS | News.az
Russia already has several of its own operating systems
Links 14/08/2024: Ecology and War Inside Russia
Links for the day
Daniel Pocock - Use of Technology in European Parliament Election Campaign (Public Talk)
It starts in 4 hours
Android About to Fly Past Windows in Portugal
Perhaps by month's end or next month Portugal will be orange (Android majority)
How OpenAI Will Decrease the Losses
You have no losses when you have no users left
Giving Control to Microsoft is Always a Dire, Huge Mistake
Microsoft is known for buying things and sabotaging things, not for creating things
Founders That Sell Their Company to Microsoft Speak Out
"Microsoft's closure of Arkane Austin in May was one of the more shocking events of the past couple of years"
In Chile, Microsoft's Web Browser (a Chrome Copycat) Fell to 3.6%, About the Same as Firefox and Opera and Less Than Safari, Yandex Browser, Google Chrome
It does not look like Chileans fancy Microsoft's browser. They go out of their way to use something else, even on Windows.
Software Freedom in Perspective - Part 4 - Daniel on Linux-based Mobile Platforms in LATAM (Latin America)
GNU, Linux, and mobile
Almost Nothing of Invidious Left Online (YouTube is Attacking Gateways)
what it looks like at this very moment
Gemini Links 14/08/2024: Funeral for an E-reader and a Mother Wants a Laptop
Links for the day
Links 14/08/2024: 8 Years of GDPR and Ridicule of "Hey Hi" (AI) Hype
Links for the day
This is How You Give Microsoft More Control Over LibreOffice Both as Software and as a Project
Didn't the Document Foundation learn from prior Microsoft Store scandals connected to LibreOffice?
"Heroes of Fedora" Are Just Salaried Employees of IBM (But "Community" is Just Sounding a Lot Nicer)
A real community would not allow IBM a majority
YouTube Has Thrown Free Software Users Into a Crisis
For many Free software users, who rely on Invidious, YouTube is nearly dead already
[Meme] "New Chapter in the FSF."
We expect to have some coverage from this week's event
There is No I in "GAFAM" and Soon There Won't be I At All (Like Novell Vanished, Not Overnight, as It Took Over a Decade)
Intel is going through the biggest crisis in its entire history
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 13, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 13, 2024
It's a "sm0l" World and It Won't Outsource to the Pentagon Anymore
As many people aren't interested in a new PC - or simply cannot afford one - we can expect leaner operating systems to gain further
Software Freedom in Perspective - Part 3 - GNU/Linux in Argentinian Desktops/Laptops
Daniel explains why many years ago many PCs shipped with GNU/Linux and that there was an economic reason for it. At least in Argentina.
Tivoisation and Decommodification in Clown Computing
Some firms or organisations lost sight of what "servers" or "hosting" even mean
The News Vacuum
The problem is worse than just an absence of reporting
x86 Lowered the Standards of Hardware Products
A lot of it is just hacks and cheats that help fake performance