Bonum Certa Men Certa

Serco's Censorship of Media or EPO's Censorship of Media? Either Way, There's a Profound Media Crisis in Europe.

All the articles below have been removed except Techrights'

Serco EPO deal censored



Summary: Team UPC and other patent maximalists are in control of most coverage in the domain of patents; but they go even further than that and it extends to actual censorship of already-published articles

THE WRITINGS we have about the European Patent Office (EPO) are astounding in the sense that they've helped expose various levels of cover-up. EPO abuses aren't covered by the media (there are now stronger and more effective suppressions of such coverage), coverage of the EPO's suppression of the media is also suppressed, and announcements about deals of António Campinos are being deleted from the Web. Moreover, comments about Battistelli's abuses are being deleted. There's an orchestrated media campaign to make the EPO look good, possibly because of the UPC lobby or patent maximalists' interests, e.g. those who promote software patents in Europe.



The U.S. has the First Amendment the press there is generally exercising more freedom than in Europe, so American media does occasionally cover issues with the USPTO. Europe? Not as much... the Internet censorship agenda is still very strong (notoriously so) in Europe, including in the EU.

"There's an orchestrated media campaign to make the EPO look good..."The greater the suppression of facts, the more attracted we become to these issues. If Europe does not have independent media, or if European media is easy to bribe, how are we expected to guard democracy? Or to ensure laws are being followed? There's this implicit consent among some publishers that exposing abuses is bad for Europe's image and is thus better avoided. It's like brushing issues under a rug/carpet.

Serco seems to be deleting references (except Techrights, which cannot be censored) to its deal with the EPO -- a subject we covered/recovered here the other day. We actually saw 5 'news' articles about it in search results; but when you click? Empty pages or 404 errors, i.e. articles removed. What's going on?! It is worth remembering that when corrupt EPO management sent law firms to censor me (after exposing their corruption) they chose censorship by intimidation -- demanding takedowns of articles; later they managed to censor also reports about their acts of legal aggression -- attempts to silence me. Sometimes proactively (spiked articles). Censorship of the censorship. Criminals tend to do such things aplenty. There's a lot of money at stake and powerful interest groups are eager to do anything they can -- even silence the media if necessary.

"They recently admitted to the media (FT) that they merely try to maintain the fiction of "progress". They've been doing that for many years."UPC interests are a good example of it because media is being paid to lie about it, quoting the likes of Bristows. And speaking of Bristows, only hours ago we saw so-called "Kluwer Patent blogger" (probably Bristows) publishing this piece entitled "Great uncertainty but preparations for Unitary Patent system continue". Is this the latest propaganda piece from Bristows? They're absolutely desperate! They recently admitted to the media (FT) that they merely try to maintain the fiction of "progress". They've been doing that for many years. Here's what EU News wrote 7 years: “What is the ‘unitary patent package’?”

And 7 years later it’s dead. This whole thing was a coup and it failed badly. Meanwhile, by their own admission, Bristows et al delete 'dissenting' comments about the UPC, both in IP Kat and in Kluwer Patent Blog. They have done this for years (we wrote about it and gave examples).

As per this post from Friday, the 'Kat' is now run by -- and promotes interests of -- Big Pharma monopolists (Rose Hughes and her employer). This blog is sick. It's not what it used to be. Watch comments like this one: "We can't allow liberalisation of the regime until all the full risks have been assessed properly, and the fact that CRISPR modifications are normally less than classic GMO ones is not a good enough reason to assume that CRISPR modified plants won't cause the same problems as GMO ones. Your article has not mentioned these problems which are huge in the eyes of many (see for example https://www.earth.com/news/gmo-crops-real-problem/). At a time when destruction of the environment has been declared an 'emergency' in the UK I would suggest caution is the best approach..."

Comments in IP Kat are still miles better than the posts because the posts are mostly lobbying and marketing of litigation firms and monopolies. No wonder coverage of EPO scandals is now suppressed. The blog is compromised (sometimes authored by Team UPC). Hello Bristows!

Bristows EPO



"They call themselves lawyers and attorneys, but they're clearly a major affront to the Rule of Law."If we cannot have free press in Europe, we won't have justice either. We hope that readers recognise the threat Team UPC poses not only to the press but also -- by inference -- to justice. They call themselves lawyers and attorneys, but they're clearly a major affront to the Rule of Law.

On Friday the EPO once again tweeted promotion of its cooperation and event with a patent trolls' front group. We know whose side EPO management is on.

As an aside, a month later the Web site epostaff4rights is still offline. Our attempts to find out why have not been successful. So many publications about EPO abuses have already vanished.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Crossbow tragedy, bigger than Kyle Clifford, social media culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Transcript of Richard Stallman's Interview With Manuel Cuda News in Italy (Debunking Fake "AI")
A rough draft, but checked by two people
Microsoft Collapses While GNU/Linux Rises in Bulgaria, According to statCounter
Microsoft is losing across all sectors
The Fall of the Open Source Initiative (OSI): An Introduction
In a nutshell: there's a massive conflict inside the OSI and the OSI stooges (staff serving Big Sponsors like Microsoft) try to hide it
Paraguay: GNU/Linux Surging to New Usage Levels (7%), According to statCounter
Notice that the gains are at Microsoft Windows' expense
Social Control Media as a Rapid Race to the Bottom - Part I - That Sinking Feeling
When you realise you made an error and things you adopted more than 15 years ago became utterly bad
Microsoft's Entryism as Mortal Risk/Danger: The Example of the Open Source Initiative (OSI)
Microsoft is a cult
FSF Amicus Brief: Aspose.PDF for .NET 24.2.0, OOXML (.docx), and Microsoft Word (Proprietary)
Could the FSF not find any law firm that, in addition to talking about or for Free software, does not use .NET, OOXML, and almost everything Microsoft?
New Interview With Richard Stallman in Italy (Manuel Cuda News)
Due to Google's growing aggression against Free software and proper APIs, this cannot be downloaded and converted to a free format
The UEFI hype and Microsoft's lies
By Sami Tikkanen
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
 
Luxembourg: GNU/Linux at 8% Based on Estimates
steady increases this year
Gemini Links 04/03/2025: Bicycle, Photos, and Motorola 6809 Assemblers
Links for the day
Microsoft OSI Apparently Still Reading Techrights Closely, Trying to Make Face-Saving PR Moves
They have long had this reactionary rhythm, wherein it feels like we can 'control' what they publish and when by merely highlighting facts about them
Slopwatch: linuxsecurity.com and Other 'Linux' Sites With LLM Slop
SEO spam with machine-generated fodder, plus a person to whom English isn't a first language
Links 04/03/2025: Microsoft/Korea Game Industry Association Workforce Cuts, Outlook and 365 Outage Affects Very Many
Links for the day
Chad: All-Time Lows for Windows, According to statCounter
According to statCounter, many in Chad moved to Android
Links 04/03/2025: Universities Are Under Attack, Windows Attracts Ransom Against Ministry of Health
Links for the day
Links 04/03/2025: Microsoft Issues Policy Instructions to the Cheeto Mussolini Administration, Cloudflare Engages in Mass Censorship Again
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/03/2025: Athens, Fedora 41, and Yelling at Clouds
Links for the day
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Belatedly Comments on Case That Tests Copyleft in the United States
"The Free Software Foundation (FSF) announced today it has submitted an amicus brief in the case entitled Neo4j"
If They Try to Censor You on Some Topic, Then You Should Cover This Topic Even More
OSI is only a small part of it
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 03, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 03, 2025
Thorsten Glaser & Open Source Initiative (OSI) resignations due to AI whitewashing
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 03/03/2025: Copyrights, GrapheneOS, and SpaceBeans
Links for the day
Links 03/03/2025: Europe Rallies Behind Ukraine, Measles Flourishes in US Again
Links for the day
In Central African Republic Windows Has Pretty Much Fallen to Zero
We need to focus on Software Freedom
Microsoft Windows Down to 8.5% in South Africa
South Africa and Egypt are strategic in Africa
After Fund-raising Campaign the Free Software Foundation Still Raises About $13,000 Per Week (Without Campaigning for New Donors/Members)
Richard Stallman in the Board is not a liability
Links 03/03/2025: 'Monetisation' Myth' and Microsoft's LLMs Helping Criminals
Links for the day
The New Series About the Open Source Initiative (OSI) and the Microsoft Entryism in OSI is Closely Related to the SLAPP Against Techrights
Also based on the leading publication that they want removed
New Series: A Deep Dive Into the Severe Corruption of the Open Source Initiative (OSI), Nowadays a Front Group and Lobbyist of Microsoft
There's a lot to show
Links 03/03/2025: Mass Layoffs in IBM China, Intel Still in Trouble
Links for the day
3 Out of 4 in Cuba Use Linux to Access the Web
Maybe change does come about...
Doing Free Software for a Living in an Era or a Time of Abundance of Code (and Fast Internet to Pass It Around Freely) or Writing When the Web is Attacked by LLM Slop
Tailoring code to needs is the key
Links 02/03/2025: Day Off, POWER9, Console Challenge
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 02, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, March 02, 2025
Microsoft Windows Falls to All-Time Low in Thailand
We're seeing many all-time records like these so far in 2025
Gemini Links 02/03/2025: Snowdrop Flower and Hostile Leaders
Links for the day
Links 02/03/2025: Microsoft Outlook Goes Offline, Foreign-Owned Social Control Media Interfering With Fair Elections
Links for the day
According to statCounter, Windows Falls Off a Cliff in Maharlika, GNU/Linux Surges to 5%
But mobile is king
New Video Clip of Richard Stallman's Latest Visit to and Talks in Italy
Richard Stallman or RMS giving his latest talk last week
Windows Used by Only One in Six Asians to Access the Web, According to statCounter
maybe more governments in Asia should move away from Microsoft
GNU/Linux Reaches 5% in Brazil, an All-Time High According to statCounter
There are hundreds of millions of people in that country
Google Already Dominates the Global South (via Android/Linux)
If one puts aside Russia and east Europe, not many countries exist that still connect to the Web from Windows more than from Android
GNU/Linux Widespread in Finland, Sweden, and Norway
Sweden has many Chromebooks in schools3 nations
Germany's Incoming Leader Said He'd Seek More Independence from the US, GNU/Linux Soars to 6%
Last month it was 5%
For the First Time GNU/Linux is Measured at Over 4% in Europe (Not Counting ChromeOS/Chromebooks)
Europe, on average, is now estimated to have GNU/Linux on 1 in 25 Web-connected laptops/desktops
Over 2 Years of LLM Hype and Nothing to Show for It
People still use search, not chatbots
Apple's iOS Almost Bigger Than Windows Now (Internationally), Windows Falls to 22% According to statCounter
Without Windows domination, there's not much left going for Microsoft
Putin's Loyal DOGE
We hereby crown Arvind Krishna "Putin's DOGE"
The Media Barely Reported This (Late Friday): IBM Lays Off About 2,000 More Workers, Effective Hours Ago
Maybe some diversity programs can help IBM recruit slaves or grossly-underpaid staff
Microsoft Money Being Spent to Bully Techrights Only Legitimises Techrights
The longer it goes on for, the greater the Streisand Effect
Suing One's Way Out of Real Trouble Won't Work (It Merely Increases the Trouble)
"Guns for hire" in London can only issue "legal" threats
Microsoft Writing Articles About Microsoft, Using Microsoft LLMs
Right now there are many articles about Microsoft Outlook being down completely
Gemini Links 02/03/2025: OFFLFIRSOCH 2025 and Programming
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 01, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, March 01, 2025