09.29.09
Posted in Intellectual Monopoly, Patents at 10:13 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Patents are found to be harmful to rapid development and the role of the United States government may help change this, despite lack of transparency and corporate bias
THE CORRELATION between innovation and patents is a subject we explore regularly and one that in the past year we’ve covered in, e.g.:
Here is another new article/analysis which concludes with:
Its true that if you put your labor into an idea then you should be allowed to consume the fruits of it, but the only reason why you put that much labor into that idea(or innovation or discovery) is because you were excluded from using someone else’s labor. Intellectual Property is a classic solution created by the problem itself, just like everything else in the world done by the government.
Mike Masnick adds:
What Kind Of Innovation Do Patents Encourage?
[...]
Petra Moser’s research comparing innovation in countries with patents to those without patents has shown that countries without patents tend to be just as innovative, but that the innovation takes different forms. Thus, patents tend to divert from the natural market of innovation to areas that are more easily “protectable.”
Of particular interest to us is the patentability of software, which according to Groklaw may finally be facing resistance from the United States government.
The Government Files its Bilski Brief: Argues For ‘Particular Machine or Transformation of Matter’ Test
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What about software, then? I read the brief as sending a mixed message, or more accurately an unfinished one, and indeed the brief states that Bilski isn’t the right case to decide that issue anyway, since it’s about a method of hedging commodities trading without any computer connection.
I’m afraid I can’t make much sense out of what it says about software.
Obama’s administration has thus far been rather favourable towards intellectual monopolies. It even hides the ACTA [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13], so Masnick has this to say about the issue:
USTR: We Can’t Be Open About ACTA Because We Promised We Wouldn’t Be (*Lobbyists Not Included)
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The USTR’s answer is really a convenient non-answer. It basically says that it can’t reveal the details because everybody promised not to do so. Of course, that doesn’t explain why so many lobbyists have such detailed access to the info, and why other countries have revealed the details of the negotiations.
Here is a list of some of the companies that receive access to the otherwise-super-secretive ACTA negotiation process. █
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Posted in GNU/Linux, GPL, Hardware, Microsoft, Mono, Novell, OSI at 9:37 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Is “Open Source” simply where Free software meets Microsoft’s software patents and other “compromises”? In some cases, it sure seems like a terminological fit
Recent attacks on Richard Stallman [1, 2, 3] are a direct outcome of remarks that he made about Mono and the person behind Mono, with whom there is this unofficial interview.
On the one hand, there is good output coming from Mono, but on the other hand there is obvious advantage to Microsoft if this route is taken. GreyGeek has responded to this issue of attacks on “Free software”, noting that:
Diluting the meaning of Open Source and HIDING the GPL in a forest of several dozen pseudo GPL licenses which do NOT offer the FOUR FREEDOMS of the GPL has been the total business of the OSI, of which Microsoft is now a member. The OSI’s “compromise” to “go mainstream” was to allow the corporate member to monitor THEIR OWN COMPLIANCE with the “Open Source” requirements defined by the OSI, as weak as the OSI requirements are. It is ALL about MONEY, and the OSI is handing out Tux Suits for cash to proprietary software houses as they try to decieve the consumer about the meaning of the GPL and the Four Freedoms.
Assuming that Moblin, for example, is encumbered by Microsoft patent tax [1, 2] (evidence does suggest so [1, 2]), then the following new analysis of “why Microsoft won’t fight moblin” makes a lot of sense. It only seems to be missing the point about software patents and it concludes with:
Moblin is the solution to the problem of Intel: providing a free, lightweight and powerful OS to sell cheaper netbooks and devices. This allows Microsoft to get out of the “bargain basement OS” market and to focus on a more expensive, higher end market with Windows 7. The differentiation between both OS is large enough to ensure that most people won’t buy a Moblin device to replace their computer but to complement it. It suits Microsoft better if consumer purchase a Windows 7 desktop AND a Moblin netbook than if their purchase only a cheap Windows XP netbook.
It is worth noting that Microsoft broke competition laws to exclude GNU/Linux from many sub-notebooks (elimination of choice) only to then complain that it was losing money by doing so. It is akin to a burglar breaking into shop, emptying the register, only to complain to the shopkeeper that there is not “enough” money at the shop and the refrigerator has no soda. █
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Posted in Antitrust, Apple, Microsoft at 8:59 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Apple quietly pushes more software into people’s PCs; Microsoft almost escapes justice in Europe
ACCORDING to The Register, cybercrime rises sharply, but the measured unit is frequency or volume of phishing attacks. Now, a lot of people may not remember that Mozilla slammed Apple for using malware-like techniques to advance itself and envisioning a duopoly with Microsoft. SJVN is now reporting that Apple repeats an offence by shoving uncalled-for software down people’s throats.
Apple may have recently shoved an unsafe update down your PC’s throat, but the broader problem is Apple, or anyone else, installing any unnecessary program on your PC.
[...]
I didn’t think anything more about it. I don’t install programs I don’t need or plan on testing. Others though did and they discovered that this completely unneeded Apple shovelware for 99.9999% of all users installs not just a configuration program, but the Apache Web server as well. For the tiny number of people who do need it, this lets corporate iPhone users ‘phone’ in to the business Web server for updates.
This type of behaviour is more characteristic of a company north of California. In fact, Microsoft is managing to get away with bundling (similar to "shovelware") because another term is ending. Opera is rightly upset.
The chief European critic of Microsoft’s Windows-IE bundling says the company’s proposed web browser ballot screen compromise is a sham, accusing Redmond of packing the screen with “threatening and confusing” questions.
Microsoft is also "threatening" against the use of ODF by displaying “confusing” messages.
The FSFE has just addressed the European Commission, asking politely that nothing should be done hastily because Microsoft has not complied yet and it continues to reap the benefits of market share it obtained illegally.
High Noon in Brussels. At the end of her term, competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes is wrapping up two open cases against Microsoft. The company offered to settle in July 2009.
FSFE is involved in both of cases. We are concerned that the Commission may end up reversing years of successful antitrust work if Neelie Kroes settles for far too little in order to close a deal, any deal. That would mean that Europeans remain stuck with the present Microsoft monopoly in most areas of the desktop. Even worse, that monopoly would have the Commission’s official seal of approval, effectively ruining many years of outstanding work by Ms Kroes and her team.
If the Commission cannot police the non-Free software industry, who can? Even the Commission itself is being influenced by lobbyists and those who are harbouring them. █
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Posted in Microsoft at 8:27 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Both Dynamics AX and Dynamics NAV ERP (mobile versions) are axed by Microsoft; reasons not given
THE OTHER day we wrote about Microsoft canceling and burying yet another product; there is a small correction to be made though. Not one product was discontinued but two. And according to Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft is unable to provide an explanation (excuse).
Microsoft officials notified the company’s partners on September 1 that Microsoft is discontinuing the mobile versions of its Dynamics AX and Dynamics NAV ERP products.
(Word of the move trickled out broadly last Friday, via a report from IDG News Service.)
What is still not clear is why Microsoft officials made the decision to phase out the two products. I asked why Microsoft decided to discontinue the mobile clients for the Dynamics products, but received an answer from a spokesperson that elaborated on the “when,” but omitted the “why.”
This usually means that the truth hurts; Microsoft is borrowing money. █
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Posted in Asia, Free/Libre Software, GNU/Linux, IBM, Open XML, OpenDocument, Standard, Ubuntu at 8:13 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Vietnam has just made ODF a national standard whilst other new gains are noted
BACK in June we wrote about ODF heading towards a "national standard" status in Vietnam, all after struggles against OOXML and foreign interests. Well, ODF is now an official standard in Vietnam, as revealed by this new document [PDF] which Rob Weir is waving, followed by many who are enthusiastic about the news. IBM is also promoting ODF in Africa through its new Canonical/IBM desktop push, which was advertised under the headline: “IBM, Canonical and Partners Launch Cloud- and Linux-based Netbook Software in Africa”
The news about Slovakia choosing ODF is over a year old, but Wikipedia was only changed to reflect on this a few days ago. There are also some official ODF icons being spread at the moment and John Cody, an attorney at the New York State Office of the Chief Information Officer/Office for Technology, declares that “ODF has clearly won.” There are other positive experiences and the relevance to curation and preservation is noted as follows:
Other formats that are suitable as LTPFs include Open Document Format (ODF), HTML, XHTML and XML. For digital images, JPEG, TIFF or PNG are recommended, and FLAC for digital audio.
None of the above is a Microsoft format; at Microsoft, digital obsolescence and single vendor control are part of the business plan. █
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Posted in News Roundup at 7:16 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Contents
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In June, Cisco announced the ten finalists in its “Think Inside the Box” developer competition. The global contest centered on the “network as a platform” philosophy, and asked applicants to develop applications using Cisco’s Linux-based AXP (Application Extension Platform), a module on its ISR (Integrated Services Routers).
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While I haven’t made the switch to Linux full time, I find myself spending more and more time experimenting of late. In particular, I’m enjoying projects like Moblin and the Ubuntu Netbook Remix.
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The Linux® technology, development model, and community have all been game-changing influences on the IT industry, and all we can really do is stand back and look at it all, happy to have been along for the ride for developerWorks’ first 10 years. The Linux zone team has put together this greatly abbreviated collection of things that stand out in our minds as having rocked the world of Linux in a significant way.
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* I had an old Windows XP laptop that was slow and required constant attention. One of the great things about almost any Linux distribution is that is small and efficient. It is often recommended as a good way to get some new life out of an older machine.
* Ubuntu makes it easy. I picked the Ubuntu distribution because it was easy to figure out and install. The software takes you step by step through the process and even gives you the option to split your hard drive so you can have both Linux and Windows (or whatever) on the same machine.
* I am not sacrificing much (if anything). As the title to this post suggests, Ubuntu is pretty cool. True, the user interface is a little different but, having oriented myself (and pretty quickly for an old guy, I am proud to say), it seems a little better than Windows. It does well all of the things my old Windows machine did poorly. I have faster web-browsing now through my trusty Firefox browser. Web apps (like Google Docs) are operating system agnostic and I have yet to run into a major plugin that is not also available for Linux distributions. Open Office (a free Office-like application) works very well with most of my Office files (and others). There are also tons of new productivity and gaming applications to explore as well, all with little (some would say no) risk of virus or malware infection.
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To me this inconsistency is a true sign that computer discrimination and software profiling not only exists but should be a very big concern for all of us. There is no other reason that the Pearson system works with a Linux operating system sporting Firefox except for their Microsoft based computer course which they claim doesn’t work with anything but Microsoft which is actually untrue.
But until software discrimination ceases to exist then programs like User Agent Switcher truly saves the day but also points out that most of the sites claiming it only works with one operating system or browser is usually just the ignorance of the website administrator pushing what they believe you should be using.
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The success of the Google Search Appliance business is dependent on the open source developers and independent software vendors (ISVs) community, according to its head.
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Kernel Space
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With the first release candidate of Linux 2.6.32, last night, Linus Torvalds completed the main development phase of the next version of Linux on the main development branch. As the kernel hackers already integrate most of a new kernel version’s major changes into the source code management system during this phase, called the merge window, 2.6.32-rc1 is already a good indicator of the most important new features due for release with Linux 2.6.32 in early December.
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It’s been no secret that NVIDIA has been working on an OpenCL Linux driver for their graphics processors just as AMD has been doing, but up until now their beta drivers were only available to registered NVIDIA developers. Today though — on the same day as NVIDIA’s OpenCL driver launch for Windows — they have made their OpenCL support publicly available.
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Nvidia on Monday released its first public OpenCL graphics-chip drives for both Windows and Linux.
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Just as planned, Mesa 7.6.0 has been released and Mesa 7.5.2 has also been released as a bug-fix in the 7.5 series. The mailing list announcements for Mesa 7.5.2 and 7.6.0 can be read here and here, respectively.
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Digital Rights Management (DRM) is an example of companies controlling consumers’ use of their product, Phorm is an example of a technology delivering targeted advertising based on demographic analysis and TPM and associated technologies such as AMT and TXT are examples of hardware integrated security systems.
DRM is designed to protect the media companies not the consumer and Phorm benefits the advertiser not the consumer; both are technologies that have generated a strong negative reaction. TPM and other technologies designed to protect the individual computer might seem beneficial to the end user, but are tainted by fears about back door access.
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Here’s what we can do:
1. Any time you find a piece of hardware that doesn’t have a Linux driver, write to the manufacturer and request that a Linux version become available for it.
2. Boycott any hardware that doesn’t explicitly work with Linux.
3. Check hardware compatibility lists and only purchase hardware that does work with Linux.
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Games
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Thanks to a reader for linking this forum thread in which Bit Blot’s Alec Holowka announced that Ryan “icculus” Gordon is now porting the award-winning undersea action game Aquaria to Linux…
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Speaking of IGF winners, GamingOnLinux let us know that Osmos is slated to make an appearance on Linux, based on their feature list…
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GNOME
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Proposed and got enough takers to do a women’s issue of GNOME Journal. An issue written all by women about what they are working on in GNOME or about things they find interesting in GNOME. It’ll come out in November.
Proposed that the a11y team branch out to non software conferences to spread the word about GNOME and how it can help people with accessibility needs.
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The presentation focuses on three things:
1. What is GNOME
2. History of GNOME (up to and including a brief overview of GNOME 2.28)
3. GNOME 3.0
One thing I hope attendees take away is that GNOME 3.0 is more than just GNOME Shell. I believe the call to action in the GNOME 3.0 community that Vincent and the release team started back in April and that continued at GUADEC really motivated a number of teams to see what they could do to contribute to GNOME 3.0. In the presentation I talk about Accessibility, Documentation, Marketing, the GNOME Developer Platform, the GNOME Activity Journal and Zeitgeist, Tomboy Online and GNOME Shell (including a demo).
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I particularly like how Slax resolved the whole package management conundrum. For example, you can “temporarily” install software with one click of a button. You just go here find your module and click “Activate”. This will download an install the package, but only for the duration of the current session. Once you reboot the package will be gone. Of course you can download the package and permanently install it as well – it’s just that the temporary option is kinda neat.
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Don’t get too used to eyeOS. Version 2.0 will have a much different look and enhanced features. The release is already set for January 1st, 2010. As their blog says, it will feature a new desktop, applications, filesystem; pretty much everything.
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Wallpapers
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Mandriva will provide 10 more backgrounds to complete official design of your favorite distribution.
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This script downloads a random wallpaper from NASA’s ‘Astronomy Picture Of The Day’ archive and sets it as your background – all with one click!
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New Releases
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Brasero has replaced K3B and kdelibs, kdemultimedia and arts have all been removed. Gtk themes have been implimented and are changeable via customized gtk-chtheme utility. While we are staying away from the heavy integrated environments, we can still get our lightweight apps to look good and coordinate with each other… changing Gtk theme also changes icewm theme, desktop background (in pcmanfm) and window background for ROX-Filer.
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Who needs a 10.1 inch screen or an Atom processor when you can get this 2.8″ QVGA beauty with an XScale processor for around $40?
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Later this week, Panasonic Communications plans to ship a full HD videoconferencing system that incorporates embedded Linux and Nokia’s Qt cross-platform development/UI framework. The KX-VC500 offers SIP-compatible videoconferencing supporting H.264-compressed 1920 x 1080i H.264 video over links from 2 to 8Mbps, and offers Internet connectivity, says Panasonic.
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Irex Technologies is readying a Linux-based electronic book (e-book) reader with an 8.1-inch, 1024 x 768 display. Based on Freescale’s ARM11-based i.MX31, the Irex DR800SG communicates via the Verizon Wireless 3G network, supports the open ePub publishing standard, and offers built-in support for the Barnes & Noble eBookstore, says Irex.
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Linux, the Open Source OS platform, is making inroads into the mainstream desktop OS market and fast becoming a popular alternative to the big brother Windows. With popular distros like Ubuntu and Fedora leading the charge, the desktop OS market is set to witness some serious change of terrain in the coming years. The popularity of Linux is also in part due to more and more hardware manufacturers shipping their wares with one flavor or the other of it installed. Below are 5 of some of the most popular Linux powered devices of 2009.
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For starts, this OS loads FAST. Not only that but it came with a bunch of extra applications, visual themes, and GAMES! Yeah baby! I couldn’t believe it when I loaded up a variant of id Software’s DOOM on my cheap $30 MP3 player. There’s no other way to say it but Rockbox is one really awesome piece of software and I’m really happy I found it! THANK YOU ROCKBOX!
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Phones
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Three days after Google told an independent developer to stop bundling proprietary applications with his alternative Android operating system, fans of the popular package have shot back with plans to work around the move.
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It’s Bloom Time at Nuxeo
Meet Cheryl McKinnon, who, as of today, is the new Chief Marketing Officer of the Paris-headquartered open source ECM vendor Nuxeo (news, site).
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Fast on the heels of Sun’s release of an updated version of the MySQL Enterprise Monitor, MySQL has released the results of a survey of 637 small and medium-size businesses (less than 500 employees) in Europe documenting open source usage. While this is not as comprehensive as Alfresco’s prior Open Source Barometer surveys, it still provides an interesting snapshot on usage patterns. (And maybe this will encourage Alfresco to revisit its survey.)
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Rutgers University, with more than 50,000 students the largest institution for higher education in the state of New Jersey, switched their main website, http://rutgers.edu, to Drupal. Looks stunning!
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OpenOffice.org
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After our first prototyping phase, a lot of questions have been raised concerning the goals of Project Renaissance and its current state. After spending an incredible amount of time to address these comments individually, we now know about the commonly asked questions on mailing lists, in personal mails or in blog comments.
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Talend
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Talend will adopt its standard open core model, which is for a free open-source offering but an enterprise edition, which comes with technical support and some premium features.
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Talend has acquired the rights to a Master Data Management product (MDM) by French-American vendor Amalto. The acquisition complements the BI specialist’s data integration portfolio with a central management solution for master data that allows companies to maintain their data consistency even across applications.
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Budget
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In essence, that optimism stems from the magnitude of the savings that open source can bring to companies – and the world economy. Tiemann spells this out in a fascinating paper [.pdf], entitled “How Open Source Software Can Save the ICT Industry One Trillion Dollars per Year”.
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In it he claims civil servants and head teachers appear to have no idea what value for money means, and calls for 40,000 teaching assistant jobs to go and cites as an example of incompetence a case where £35,000 was spent on a £1,000 photocopier.
His report follows last week’s statement from Education Secretary Ed Balls that schools could save £2bn by sacking Senior Teachers.
Seems that it’s not just me that thinks schools are being let down by a bunch of dopes.
[...]
So, oh cloth-eared brethren responsible for value for money procurement in schools… heedless of the risk of repeating myself here goes:
Open Source software can save schools billions of pounds.
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Events
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The conference is partly in celebration of the 10th anniversary of The Apache Software Foundation, and is one of several annual events that the foundation runs around the world.OStatic is a media partner with the foundation for the event, and readers can get a 10 percent discount to the conference. Here is how to do so, and more details.
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Global Conference on Open Source (GCOS) aims to bring the global open source community together in order to address the growing demand for open source technology in every social spectrum. GCOS will generate an international collaboration among governments, businesses, academicians, and communities to strengthen the position of open source, making it more attractive and valuable for the society at large.
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I just got back from OhioLinuxFest “Forty Years of Unix,” and I want to report on what I heard, who I saw, and what I learned. I wasn’t sure how it would be this year, with a slowed economy. Compared to last year, it had fewer exhibitors, but roughly the same number of attendees. The raffle tickets sold out, which is a good sign for any fund-raising activity.
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Openness
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I’ve blinded myself with my own high powered grow lights before. It is disorienting and the flashes would reoccur in my own vision for up to a hour later. While the bedazzler has not yet induced vomiting Ladyada has confidence that with a open design someone will figure out the magic combination of LEDs and pulses to make a fully effective unit.
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Programming
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Git-based online hosted service, GitHub, has chosen Sydney company Anchor to implement and manage its infrastructure.
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The “Club Med” of southern European Union countries came under attack from environmentalists today for defying the campaign to ban trade in bluefin tuna, Japan’s highly prized sushi fish, whose stocks are dwindling dangerously low.
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A handful of Democratic senators are promoting legislation to repeal immunity for telecommunications firms that cooperated with the Bush administration on a warantless wiretapping program.
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Intellectual Monopolies
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And, despite her deleting her blog, some actually saved many of the comments on her blog. And, again, they don’t show “abuse,” but thoughtful, reasoned argument along these lines — none of which Ms. Allen has responded to as of yet. That post, by the way, also highlights numerous factual errors in Ms. Allen’s earlier responses.
So, yes, I’m going to post this video, because I think it’s great (and catchy) and because I think it does further the conversation, just not in the direction that Ms. Allen intended. It’s from a fan of Ms. Allen’s work, and is endearing, not attacking. It’s entertaining. It’s free… and it got me to go and buy Dan Bull’s first album, even though he’s offering it up for free, too.
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Warner Music Group has completed a deal with YouTube that will bring back music videos for Green Day, REM, Madonna and other artists to the video-sharing site from which they were removed in December, according to two executives familiar with the talks.
Internet Video Celebrity Caitlin Hill 01 (2007)
Digital Tipping Point is a Free software-like project where the raw videos are code. You can assist by participating.
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Posted in Europe, Free/Libre Software, FSF, GNU/Linux, GPL, Java, Microsoft, Mono, Novell, Patents at 6:25 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Another quick analysis of how Microsoft ‘bear-hugs’ the “Open Source” community to advance technical and political goals
THERE IS quite clearly an attack on Free software. Some people really want the movement and its philosophy out of the way so that corporations can “do their thing” and leave that whole “freedom thing” behind. Assimilation is a rather scary strategy because not only is it Microsoft’s favourite technique for embracing and extending (or dividing and devouring) but it also makes peers seem like foes, and vice versa.
GNU/Linux is Novell is Microsoft
The vision some people have of GNU/Linux does not have much freedom in mind. Over the weekend, Miguel de Icaza shared nostalgic Microsoft photos and declared that he deletes comments (here in Boycott Novell we never deleted any comments).
If you feel the need to be rude, offensive, lie or you are intentionaly trying to start a fight, I encourage to do that in your blog.
Fellow Novell employee (he came from Ximian) sings praises of Mono, which is almost like gratis promotion of .NET and C#. He addresses the truth about Mono helping Microsoft and never quite catching up:
Unsurprisingly someone attacked Miguel and Mono for “always chasing tail lights” which is a common logical fallacy that the anti-Mono folks love to argue…
A seemingly-reasonable point is then being made: “We’re not interested in childish popularity contests, we’re interested in making great cross-platform development tools and making the Linux Desktop more inviting to a wider audience of both users and developers.”
It can be done with Java, which is equal on more platforms and is also Free software. Quite importantly, it does not suffer from Microsoft's patent cage, it inhibits it.
Open Corers
The most recent attacks on Free software and on Richard Stallman are an issue we addressed in the afternoon, but so did Glyn Moody, who argued that “Without Free Software, Open Source Would Lose its Meaning.” It’s about blurring, which he warned about 2 years ago when Microsoft was entering the OSI (partly owing to Matt Asay’s insistence, being part of the board at the time).
Moreover, if the term “open source” becomes devalued, coders and users will become disillusioned, and start to desert it. The former will find the sharing increasingly asymmetric, as their contributions are taken with little given in return (something that may well happen even to open source companies using the GNU GPL if they demand that contributors cede their copyright, as most currently do). Users will similarly discover that some of these new-style “blurred” open source applications fail to deliver the promised benefits of control, customisation and cost-savings.
But, of course, the point is not “to go mainstream”: as Stallman said, it’s about having “freedom as a principle.” Spreading free software is about spreading *free* software, not free *software*: software is simply the means, not the end.
Mr. Greve (of FSFE fame) argues that it “Seems @mjasay [Matt Asay] should read this again.” The cited article from Greve says:
Another approach by which companies such as SAP and Microsoft seek to steer the brand is by escalating, aggravating and encouraging conflict between false enemies, and by seeking to harmonize the wider community with false friends.
This brings us to the last point.
Microsoft and SAP as Part of “Open Source”
Here is the latest episode of this never-ending saga which we wrote about in:
- European Open Source Software Workgroup a Total Scam: Hijacked and Subverted by Microsoft et al
- Microsoft’s AstroTurfing, Twitter, Waggener Edstrom, and Jonathan Zuck
- Does the European Commission Harbour a Destruction of Free/Open Source Software Workgroup?
- The Illusion of Transparency at the European Parliament/Commission (on Microsoft)
- 2 Months and No Disclosure from the European Parliament
- After 3 Months, Europe Lets Microsoft-Influenced EU Panel be Seen
- Formal Complaint Against European Commission for Harbouring Microsoft Lobbyists
- ‘European’ Software Strategy Published, Written by Lobbyists and Multinationals
- Microsoft Uses Inside Influence to Grab Control, Redefine “Open Source”
Below is the latest correspondence (up to this morning). My words are marked in red to distinguish from those of the person at the Commission. They shelter moles.
OpenPGP: *Parts of the message have NOT been signed or encrypted*
Dear Mr Schestowitz,
Thank you for your e-mail dated 21/09/2009 registered on 21/09/2009. I hereby acknowledge receipt.
Yours sincerely,
[Anonymised]
[...]
Dear Mr. Schestowitz,
Thank you for your email of 20th March, registered on 23rd March, applying for a copy of documents in accordance with Regulation (EC) N° 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
In this message you requested access to the following documents:
“I hereby request electronic access to all documents related to the Towards the European Software Strategy process in the posession of the EU-Commission, in particular access to the following documents:
* the list of participants in the industry expert group
* the list of WGs, WGs sleaders and observing Commission officials
* draft contributions of all industry Working groups on a the European Software Strategy
* draft input to all WG prepared by the Commission
* the participant list of the related meeting on January 20th in Brussels
* all submissions from industry to the ESS consultation under the applicable provisions of regulation 1049/2001 which grant me a right of access to all documents mentioned above.”
We were, and still are, unable to identify the documents referred to in the 6th item “all submissions from industry to the ESS consultation”, as notified to you in our emails dated 15th April 2009, 8th May 2009, 27th May 2009 and 5th June 2009.
We sent you the documents corresponding to the first five items in your request in our email of 5th June 2009. I would draw your attention to the fact that they can, in no way, be reproduced or disseminated for commercial purposes unless we have first been consulted.
The documents that were sent were:
* the list of participants in the industry expert group: “list of participants in the industry expert group.pdf”
* the list of WGs, WGs sleaders and observing Commission officials: “Working Groups.pdf”
* the participant list of the related meeting on January 20th in Brussels: “Participants list 20th of January.pdf”
* draft input to all WG prepared by the Commission: “Moderator for the European Software Strategy Working Group SMEs Reduction of Fragmentation – D104400.tif” Please note that the email is a model for all the emails sent to the moderators
Please note that the following documents have been drawn up by independent experts and do not necessarily represent the European Commission’s views and can in no way be reproduced or disseminated for commercial purposes unless we have first been consulted.
* draft contributions of all industry Working groups on a the European Software Strategy:
“WG1_Future_Internet.pdf”
“WG2_Technology and Business Trends in the Software Industry.pdf”
“WG 3 – IPR, Standards, and Interoperability.zip”
“WG4_Public Procurement – Financing Software Innovation.pdf”
“WG5_SMEs-Reduction of Fragmentation.pdf”
“WG6_Skills.pdf”
“WG7_OSS.pdf”
* draft input to all WG prepared by the Commission: “Software_Strategy_Issues_Paper.pdf”
In our email dated 5th June 2009 we sent you the documents that we had identified from your original email dated 20th March 2009. In your reply, dated 7th June 2009, you subsequently informed us that “I shall ask again for more documents”. To date, no request has been received by our services.
Yours sincerely,
[Anonymised]
Thank you for the reply. When I wrote “I shall ask again for more documents” I meant to say “I hereby ask again for the documents”. In particular, I wish to see the contributions of Mr. Zuck (he confirmed to me that he was in the panel) and SAP. ACT and SAP have a well documented track record of systematically stomping on Open Source software. Mr. Zuck has been a lobbyist for Microsoft for about a decade, so his role in this paper only help in substantiating allegations that the eventual outcome is manipulated by hostile edits. I adamantly believe that the process — not just the output — should be transparent.
This scandal has gone on for several months (almost half a year) and I have still not received what I requested. Even the active involvement of the ombudsman did not help much, except for the fact that the Commission was pressured/forced to carry on with correspondence comprising mostly excuses. In the mean time, Microsoft, SAP and their lobbyists get their way in Europe. █
“The closing years of life are like a masquerade party, when the masks are dropped”
–Arthur Schopenhauer quotes (German Philosopher, 1788-1860)
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