𝕿𝖊𝖈𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖘 Bulletin for Sunday, November 29, 2020
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Generated Mon 30 Nov 04:15:26 GMT 2020
Created by Dr. Roy Schestowitz (𝚛𝚘𝚢 (at) 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚣 (dot) 𝚌𝚘𝚖)
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 ䷼ Bulletin articles (as HTML) to comment on (requires login):
		http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/blasphemy-law-and-coc/#comments
		http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/demonstration-epo-2019/#comments
		http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/fate-of-the-upc/#comments
		http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/irc-log-281120/#comments
		http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/managing-ip-puff-pieces/#comments
		http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/microsoft-bans-code/#comments
		http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/outreachy-explained-by-minority-female/#comments
		http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/save-epo-money/#comments
		http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/suepo-to-president-of-the-epo/#comments
		http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/the-epo-financial-siege/#comments
		http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/upc-blazes/#comments

 ䷞ Followed by Daily Links (assorted news picks curated and categorised):
		http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/genode-os-20-11/#comments

                    ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 53

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(ℹ) Images, hyperlinks and comments at http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/blasphemy-law-and-coc/#comments

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✐ Free_Software_Under_Tyranny_of_Codes_of_Conduct_as_the_Western_Equivalent_of
Blasphemy_Law_(Corporations_as_the_New_Religion/Sponsors_as_Deities)⠀✐


Posted in Deception, Free/Libre_Software, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, OSI at 9:00 am
by Dr. Roy Schestowitz


“What really worries me is that the courts might choose a muddled half-
measure—by approving an interpretation of “indecent” that permits the doctor
program or a statement of the decency rules, but prohibits some of the books
that any child can browse through in the public library. Over the years, as the
Internet replaces the public library, some of our freedom of speech will be
lost.”


                                                        –Richard_Stallman,_1996


               🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇Wikipedia on Code of conduct⦈
What if we let the_intolerant determine what is and isn’t tolerant, then govern
       everybody’s speech? Reference: Code_of_conduct as per Wikipedia.


Summary: The free_speech_crisis_in_Free_software_communities has enabled
expulsion of opinionated people whose opinions truly matter; in their place we
now_have_companies that bomb people, sometimes even kidnapping_children_and
sterilising_women because nothing says “Ethics” like naked fascism and
corporate domination everywhere


ALMOST everybody knows that earlier this year the OSI banned its co-founder
only weeks after its other co-founder had resigned in protest. Nowadays the OSI
is run by proprietary folks and most_of_its_budget_feeds_proprietary_GitHub
(Microsoft monopoly). OSI is a disgrace and its uses speech policing as a
pretext for ousting people who stand in this agenda’s way. Not entirely
surprising or unprecedented. People who routinely break the law and work
closely with ICE (kidnapping children and sterilising women) claim to be
‘protecting’ us from immoral voices. Yeah, right…


“Even RMS (when I last spoke to him about it) generally agreed, he just wanted
a comprehensive resource explaining what had happened to OSI.”Many out there
will agree that the OSI in 2020 is defunct. Even RMS (when I last spoke to him
about it) generally agreed, he just wanted a comprehensive resource explaining
what had happened to OSI.


🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇Salesforce ICE #3⦈ “I started evaluating licenses,” one
reader told us this weekend, “when I was curious what had happened around the
time Perens left. More after Fair license info.”


She decided to start by asking around about the “Fair License”, having
remembered it as a weird one (and still getting approved by OSI). She has been
involved in Free software since the days I was just a pupil in school. “First,”
she said, “I contacted James William Pye, the author of the Fair License.”


The findings were somewhat revealing. “Both links on_the_OSI_site to the
license itself were broken.”


From the page:


     <Copyright Information>


     Usage of the works is permitted provided that this instrument is
     retained with the works, so that any entity that uses the works is
     notified of this instrument.


     DISCLAIMER: THE WORKS ARE WITHOUT WARRANTY.


     Versions
     2015, Fair License: http://fairlicense.org/ [dodgy Web site,
     definitely not what's intended to be there]
     2004, Fair License: http://rhid.com/fair (this URL no longer works)


“License was approved around 2004,” she recalled, sharing the following E-mail
response from James William Pye:


     Do you know of any projects currently using the license?


     I don’t think there are, and it probably shouldn’t be used
     unmodified. It should likely provide an explicit list of permissions
     to enhance clarity.


     Did you have many projects in the past using the license?


     No.


     The website link does not seem to associate with the license (lots of
     domino images). Is the license hosted anywhere?


     I thought someone took stewardship of it a number of years ago, but I
     don’t know what happened to it.


     Any assistance is greatly appreciated. If you have time to discuss
     more, I am interested in anything more you may want to share.


     No problem.


“This_thread is only the first I opened,” she continued. “Very interesting!”


From her notes:


     # License – [License-review] For approval: The Cryptographic Autonomy
     License (Beta 4)
     ## information
     - review list
     - authors: bruce perens, josh simmons, bradley kuhn
     - date: jan 2 2020


     ## Noteworthy:
     ### 1. Perens states
     “Well, it seems to me that the organization is rather
     enthusiastically
     headed toward accepting a license that isn’t freedom respecting.
     Fine, do
     it without me, please.”


     ### 2. Perens states
     >> Don’t waste your time, Bradley. They were told not to listen to
     you,
     >> either.
     >>


     ### 3. Kuhn makes a shameless plug for SFC (the MS backed/sponsor for
     SFC Copyleft conf)
     >>> Pls. support the charity where I work, Software Freedom
     Conservancy:
     >>> https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/


Here’s the main E-mail of interest:


     Josh,


     Well, it seems to me that the organization is rather enthusiastically
     headed toward accepting a license that isn’t freedom respecting.
     Fine, do
     it without me, please. I asked Patrick to cancel my membership, and I
     would
     have unsubscribed from OSI lists, including this one, if your server
     was
     working. I own an interest in 10 Open Source companies and manage a
     50
     Million dollar portfolio investing in them. That will keep me
     involved
     enough.


     Thanks


     Bruce


     On Wed, Jan 1, 2020 at 9:18 PM Joshua R. Simmons <
     josh.simmons at opensource.org> wrote:


     > That’s out of line, Bruce. I’m not sure where this FUD is coming
     from, but
     > it’s inappropriate.
     >
     > Regardless of my own views, I quite value Bradley’s contribution,
     as well
     > as Van’s engaging the process and responding to criticism in good
     faith.
     >
     > I’ve been following the discussions closely and, frankly, it seems
     a
     > decent model of critical civil discourse. Let’s keep it that way.
     >
     > (Apologies for the re-send, had to square away some issues with my
     mailing
     > list membership.)
     >
     > Josh Simmons, VP at Open Source Initiative (Tax ID 91-2037395)
     > @joshsimmons <http://twitter.com/joshsimmons> | josh at
     opensource.org | 1-707-600-6098
     > | bluesomewhere on Freenode
     > ad astra per aspera
     >
     > On Wed, Jan 1, 2020 at 8:53 PM Bruce Perens via License-review <
     > license-review at lists.opensource.org> wrote:
     >
     >> Don’t waste your time, Bradley. They were told not to listen to
     you,
     >> either.
     >>
     >> On Wed, Jan 1, 2020 at 6:29 PM Bradley M. Kuhn <bkuhn at ebb.org>
     wrote:
     >>
     >>> I can’t find an example when OSI approved a novel copyleft
     license that
     >>> hadn’t yet been used in practice and therefore had no track
     record of use
     >>> for any FOSS project. It was once somewhat common for OSI to
     approve
     >>> licenses that were used by only one entity, and most of those
     licenses
     >>> were
     >>> never used beyond the one project, and even most of those
     entities have
     >>> deprecated those by now. (OSI also made a decision to cease
     considering
     >>> such single-use licenses.) Rapid acceptance of a novel licenses,
     so far
     >>> unused in practice, causes confusion in the FOSS community.
     >>>
     >>> Folks have shouted down Bruce as he wonders how Van’s license
     will be
     >>> used
     >>> in practice. I think Bruce has made a useful point on this
     thread: as a
     >>> general matter, it’s relevant that we consider how the license
     impacts
     >>> users’ *and* software publishers’ software freedoms in
     *practice*, not
     >>> merely *in theory*.
     >>>
     >>> In that regard, I’d like to know if the project that plans to use
     this
     >>> license will be inbound=outbound (i.e., is the entity that’s
     promulgating
     >>> this new license willing to bound themselves by the license
     terms)? Van,
     >>> could you tell us, on behalf of your client (who appears to be
     the only
     >>> potential licensor interested in this license), what their
     contribution
     >>> plans are regarding this license? Are they planning to accept
     >>> contributions
     >>> under this license, and thus be bound by it for their FOSS
     projects?
     >>> If not, why not?
     >>> –
     >>>
     >>> Bradley M. Kuhn – he/him
     >>>
     >>> Pls. support the charity where I work, Software Freedom
     Conservancy:
     >>> https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/


Asked whether we could share her findings, “Definitely!” was the reply. As
we’ll show in our next post, there’s a more extensive gameplay here (as the
saying goes, “follow the money”) and money flows in a number of interesting
directions. Consider who’s heading the OSI right now (there’s also a leadership
vacuum, so a top-level OSI position was advertised earlier this month).


These people don’t care about Free software and they don’t care about free
speech, either. They equate speech they dislike with all sorts of horrible
things which merit expulsion. They are, by their own definition, “ethical”;
thus, anyone who does not agree with them is “unethical”… █



                    ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 344

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(ℹ) Images, hyperlinks and comments at http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/demonstration-epo-2019/#comments

⠀⌧ █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 11.29.20⠀▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ ⌧


✐ One_Year_Ago:_The_Last_EPO_Demonstration_Before_COVID-19⠀✐


Posted in Europe, Patents at 7:15 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz


Demonstrations used to be possible


                    🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇EPO demonstration⦈


Summary: About a year ago staff of the EPO apparently had its last protest (in
front of the Isar building) before staff got ‘herded’ into homes, where workers
became more isolated and even illegally spied on


IT did not take long for the Benoît_Battistelli era to resume under António
Campinos. Within less than a year staff already wanted to go on strike and
within less than 2 years at the Office Campinos had lower levels of confidence
among staff than Battistelli had at a corresponding period (about 3 years in).


“Within less than a year staff already wanted to go on strike and within less
than 2 years at the Office Campinos had lower levels of confidence among staff
than Battistelli had at a corresponding period (about 3 years in).”What does
that tell us?


First of all, recall the controversial_last_moves of Campinos at the EUIPO;
he’s crushing staff to ‘save money’ (and compromise quality of service, also in
violation of the law).


🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇A demonstration or student protests in Berlin⦈ So what do
these autocrats even stand for? How do they expect to restore peace at the
Office? Bribing and blackmailing publishers (to prevent negative media
coverage)? Is that the plan? Censoring (preventing access to) sites like
Techrights? What does that say about the nature of the Office?


Either way, for the record, this is the ‘leaflet’ circulated 13 months ago in
preparation for what seems like the last demonstration:


     § Demonstration⠀➾


     § Wednesday 23 October⠀➾


     § at 12.30h in front of the Isar building⠀➾


     On 23 and 24 October the EPO Budget and Finance Committee will meet
     in Munich. On the agenda are CA/83/19 and CA/84/19.


     Despite the excellent performance of staff during the last years,
     these documents foresee an unprecedented set of punitive measures,
     among which:


         * A further increase of productivity of 31% for formalities staff
           and 23% for examining staff, the latter on top of the + 36%
           already achieved,


         * A reduction of the salary progression and a further reduction
           of the career perspectives for all but the happy few,
           additionally


         * The introduction of a “solidarity tax” (solidarity with_whom?)
           of up to 9% on salaries and pensions, and


         * An up to 25% reduction of the pension accrual despite an up to
           10% increase in the pension contribution by staff,


         * With the further hundreds of millions in cash surpluses thus
           generated annually to be stashed away in an obscure “EPO
           Treasury Investment Fund” (EPOTIF).


     Is this a just reward for staff’s performance?


     Is this in the interest of the EPO and its stakeholders?


     Please join us for a demonstration in front of the Isar building if
     you don’t think so !


     SUEPO Munich


It’s kind of sad that a public health crisis became also a human rights crisis.
Right now the EPO’s staff is incapable of legally assembling like that. █



                    ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 457

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(ℹ) Images, hyperlinks and comments at http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/fate-of-the-upc/#comments

⠀⌧ █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 11.29.20⠀▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ ⌧


✐ The_Real_Fate_of_the_UPC_‘Stunt’_in_Germany_Will_be_Known_Next_Month_(or_Next
Year)_and_There_Are_Substantial_Constitutional_Barriers_in_the_Way⠀✐


Posted in Europe, Patents at 4:55 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz


🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇The four panel: BMJV, FCC, Trolls' lawyers, German law, Team
                            UPC and constitution⦈


🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇Christine Lambrecht⦈ Summary: Contrary to what Team UPC
wants people to think, UPC(A) isn’t a “done deal” in Germany; they never
actually addressed the substance of complaints and with help from Benoît
Battistelli‘s friends_in_the_Commission they’re just attempting a blatant coup


EARLIER this month many scholars across Europe publicised their position on the
UPC, which they oppose. The minds, not the litigation lawyers, consider UPC/
A to be a bad thing. They’re still adding more signatures and are actively
working to squash the UPC, seeing that it is bad for Europe and insulting to
the Rule of Law. As someone_put_is_on_Friday,_citing/quoting_FFII: “Politicians
willfully ignored the problem that the UPC violates the “Rule of Law”
principle, as the EPO still cannot be sued for maladministration, where there
are 4 pending complaints in Karlsruhe, which should be issued in early 2021.”


“It’s not impossible that there will be multiple constitutional complaints next
month. Time will tell; but this was expected all along (as was the outcome of
the Bundestag vote).”We said we’d refrain from wasting much time on this,
foreseeing another major failure for Team UPC. It is meanwhile more apparent
that the complainant the first time around has several weeks to submit another,
maybe to be dealt with in substance this time around (the FCC did not get
around to addressing all the points the first time around, dealing instead with
a formality). As he has_just_put_that_in_his_site:


     Update_(25_and_26/11/2020):


     On 07/08/2020, the German government started its second attempt to
     ratify the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court and sent its
     corresponding draft legislation to the Federal Council (“Bundesrat”;
     Federal Council printed matter 448/20, German language). In its 993rd
     session on 26/09/2020 the Federal Council raised no objections to the
     draft (Federal Council printed matter 448/20_(decision) and protocol,
     p._297, both German language).


     On 25/09/2020 the German government presented its draft to the German
     Parliament (“Bundestag”, Parliament printed matter 18/22847, German
     language). In the first deliberation on 08/10/2020 the draft was
     referred to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Consumer Protection
     (in charge), the Committee on European Union Affairs and the
     Committee on Budgets (protocol, p._23001_(D), German language).


     In its 113th meeting on 25/11/2020, the Committee for Legal Affairs
     and Consumer Protection dealt with the draft legislation (item 3 on
     the agenda of 20/11/2020, German language) and recommended its
     adoption, against the votes of the AfD. A motion by the AfD
     Parliamentary group to hold a public hearing on the dossier was
     rejected (see the report “Bills pass the Legal Affairs Committee” of
     25/11/2020 and the Resolution recommendation in Parliament printed
     matter 19/24742, both German language).


     The Parliamentary group CDU/CSU is of the opinion (Resolution
     recommendation, p. 4, last para.)


     “…that the primacy of Union law provided for in Article 20 of the
     Agreement affects neither the fundamental domestic constitutional
     guarantees, in particular the principles laid down in Article 1 and
     Article 20(1) and (2) in conjunction with Article 79(3) of the
     Grundgesetz, nor the Federal Constitutional Court’s jurisdiction to
     review compliance with minimum constitutional standards in the
     transfer of sovereign rights to European or intergovernmental
     institutions.”


     The SPD parliamentary group thinks (Resolution recommendation, p. 5,
     first para.)


     “…that the final distribution of the competences of the Unified
     Patent Court with regard to the partial location in London provided
     for in the Agreement, that is necessary due to the withdrawal of the
     United Kingdom from the European Union, is still to be resolved
     appropriately in the future in consent with the other Member States
     participating in the Agreement.”


     Also on 25/11/2020, the Budget Committee consulted on the draft
     legislation and recommended its adoption, against the votes of the
     FDP and the AfD (Resolution recommendation in Parliament printed
     matter 19/24743, German language).


     Already on 26/11/2020 the German Parliament will hold its second and
     third deliberations on the draft legislation (item 15 on the agenda
     of 25/11/2020, German language).


     The consultation of the Legal Committee of the Federal Council is
     currently scheduled for 02/12/2020 (survey 56/20 of the agenda,
     German language), the Federal Council can therefore be expected to
     make its final deliberation on the draft legislation in its 998th
     session on 18/12/2020.


It’s not impossible that there will be multiple constitutional complaints next
month. Time will tell; but this was expected all along (as was the outcome of
the Bundestag vote). Even Team UPC spoke about this in advance. It was
foreseen.


This has become a matter of politics instead of law. As Benjamin Henrion told
me_the_other_day: “Now von der Leyen cabinet does not seem to reply to my
emails deposi[ti]ng the letter. Sent it via recommandé 2 days ago, still no
proof of good reception. They are playing with us.” █



                    ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 590

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(ℹ) Images, hyperlinks and comments at http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/irc-log-281120/#comments

⠀⌧ █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 11.29.20⠀▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ ⌧


✐ IRC_Proceedings:_Saturday,_November_28,_2020⠀✐


Posted in IRC_Logs at 2:30 am by Needs Sunlight


                                      🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇H                                     🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇HTML5_logs⦈_


                                         #techrights_log_as_HTML5                                                                                  #boycottnovell_log_as_HTML5


                                      🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇H                                     🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇HTML5_logs⦈_


                                    #boycottnovell-social_log_as_HTML5                                                                               #techbytes_log_as_HTML5


                                      🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇t                                      🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇text_logs⦈_


                                          #techrights_log_as_text                                                                                   #boycottnovell_log_as_text


                                      🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇t                                      🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇text_logs⦈_


                                     #boycottnovell-social_log_as_text                                                                                #techbytes_log_as_text


                          Enter_the_IRC_channels_now


===============================================================================
§ IPFS Mirrors⠀➾


CID                                              Description     Object type


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 QmUkUzWeGiL9Qp8v61DxARnAmBVNRzasarB7ENcNFxmXyY #boycottnovell  🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇HTML5 logs⦈
                                                 (full IRC log
                                                 as HTML)


                                                 IRC log for
                                                 #boycottnovell
 QmZjdjK4pzybo9ffoBKUXSCiKCqAfxGhvKpCqVZAX7V8HT (full IRC log   🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇text logs⦈
                                                 as plain/ASCII
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                                                 IRC log for
                                                 #boycottnovell-
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                                                 IRC log for
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                                                 IRC log for
 Qmc5Da2cZC4yDhcqHM532nYH4JxvknNzby3F5RKG1FrGoC #techbytes      🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇HTML5 logs⦈
                                                 (full IRC log
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                                                 IRC log for
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 QmP7ZjvvWV5mkgGTQ6dvZdySwiBg1Mb2kihvqCmjzErpuh (full IRC log   🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇text logs⦈
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                                                 IRC log for
 QmdQyKVL7ecZaVCZSHSx1NAK1oLU4xhbCkx1ht3EVhvHy6 #techrights     🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇HTML5 logs⦈
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                                                 IRC log for
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 QmRGafiRUYUX4pLsH9NyHvfLgSmNSon3i5a81NWe7iP2LY (full IRC log   🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇text logs⦈
                                                 as plain/ASCII
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🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇IPFS logo⦈


§ Bulletin for Yesterday⠀➾


Local_copy | CID (IPFS): QmS9bP8yhTuXvtdnGKjZQcTYCgofc2LYKW3KEeK8Vq8hti



                    ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 703

╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕

(ℹ) Images, hyperlinks and comments at http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/managing-ip-puff-pieces/#comments

⠀⌧ █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 11.29.20⠀▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ ⌧


✐ Managing_IP:_Puff_Pieces_Galore_for_the_EPO’s_Dictatorship_(Complete_With
Buzzwords_and_PR_Stunts)⠀✐


Posted in Deception, Europe, Patents at 11:13 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz


When dependent on or while working for publications sponsored by law/litigation
firms can one engage in real journalism?


🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇Real Madrid, Real athlete, fake 'report'⦈ Summary: By giving
a platform to notorious patent trolls and ‘engaging’ with the EPO‘s dictator
(whom only 3% of EPO staff trusts) Managing IP is sort of giving away its real
agenda, which isn’t journalism but conducting or assisting misinformation
campaigns


SO Managing IP just (re)prints whatever chronic liars and patent trolls say (no
fact-checking needed); is this what counts as journalism in 2020?


The frustrating state of Managing IP isn’t a new issue; we’ve been covering the
site’s role in producing classic “fake news” about the UPC/A, in effect
participating in a vicious and dishonest lobbying campaign.


“…we’ve been covering the site’s role in producing classic “fake news” about
the UPC/A, in effect participating in a vicious and dishonest lobbying
campaign.”Now, just as staff starts_mass-mailing_EPO_management, the site goes
‘full IAM‘…


Here’s Managing IP as megaphone for ‘thug’ António_Campinos, whom Max Walters
deems to be some sort of ‘expert’ in science and “AI” (or “Hey Hi”). “EPO
president discusses AI [sic] inventorship [sic] rules and video hearings
[sic],” it says, “and explains why staff will eventually return to the office…”


Well, “eventually”…


Maybe do some grilling about the fake financial ‘study’. Would Campinos walk
away in protest? Would funding be at risk?


For better insight into this whole thing see this_weekly_roundup (no paypall)
and notice how they reprint press releases (this is what the site stands for,
never the hard questions; same with Benoît_Battistelli). To quote relevant
bits:


     EPO president António Campinos has said it will take “years” before
     IP authorities agree on whether artificial intelligence tools can be
     patent inventors.


     In an interview with Managing IP, we asked Campinos about an AI tool
     – Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience –
     which has been named as the inventor on parallel patent applications.
     Several major IP jurisdictions, including the EPO, have rejected the
     filings.


     The EPO president said there has not been much relevant legislative
     progress recently, before admitting: “You can imagine the years of
     discussion that this will take before we come to an agreement in this
     area.”


     [...]


     A study published by the EPO shows that European universities and
     public research organisations are using European patents as the main
     instrument to commercially exploit their inventions.


     According to the study, called Valorisation of scientific results –
     Patent commercialisation scoreboard: European universities and public
     research organisations, these institutions already protect more than
     a third (36%) of their inventions with patents. Of inventions in the
     pipeline, the institutions say they plan to protect 42% through
     patenting.


     The study, published on Tuesday, November 24, adds that licensing is
     the preferred method of commercialisation (accounting for 70% of
     commercialisation of inventions), followed by R&D co-operation (14%).
     Selling patents accounted for 9%.


     EPO president António Campinos said: “Europe’s universities and
     public research organisations are powerhouses of scientific research
     and are behind many breakthrough inventions. This report shows that
     they are using European patents to bring their new technologies out
     of the lab and into the market.”


     The study was based on 686 interviews covering patent applications
     filed with the EPO between 2007 and 2018 by 241 European universities
     and public research organisations.


Did the site actually study this so-called ‘study’? Which is basically self-
serving propaganda…


It’s sad to see what level of fluff so-called ‘news’ sites have stooped down
to. Another new ‘article’ (more like platform rental) by Max Walters is just
giving a platform to a vicious patent troll [1, 2], Kasim Alfalahi. Surely they
can do some investigative journalism instead of just copy-pasting the words of
some troll talking about himself and his so-called ‘business’. But yes,
investigative journalism takes more work and is more risky. So they do PR,
instead. █



                    ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 830

╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕

(ℹ) Images, hyperlinks and comments at http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/microsoft-bans-code/#comments

⠀⌧ █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 11.29.20⠀▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ ⌧


✐ Microsoft_Removes_Free_Software_From_GitHub_Again,_This_Time_for_Motion
Picture_Association_(MPA)⠀✐


Posted in Free/Libre_Software, Microsoft at 4:29 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz


Recent: [Meme]_DRM_Loves_Wintel/Microsoft/Centralisation/Monopoly


🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇GitHub_censorship⦈_


🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇GitHub_takdown⦈_


Summary: GitHub is proving to be more of a censorship site than a code-sharing
site; with the GitHub takeover Microsoft became a ‘censorship police’ or force
of occupation against its ideological competition; just weeks after the
YouTube-DL debacle and further take-downs seeking to ‘protect’ broken DRM
schemes (by banning code) we can see that Microsoft isn’t defending developers
at all; it’s just protecting the interests of MPA, RIAA and other Biden_circles
from the interests of the general population, which sometimes circumvents
perfectly circumventable ‘DRM’ schemes


“DRM is the future.”


                                                  –Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO


“DRM is nearly always the result of a conspiracy of companies to restrict the
technology available to the public. Such conspiracy should be a crime, and the
executives responsible for it should be sentenced to prison.”


                                                              –Richard Stallman



                    ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 880

╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕

(ℹ) Images, hyperlinks and comments at http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/outreachy-explained-by-minority-female/#comments

⠀⌧ █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 11.29.20⠀▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ ⌧


✐ Sincere_Thoughts_About_Outreachy⠀✐


Posted in Free/Libre_Software, FSF at 9:58 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz


In this age of ‘cancel culture’ and attacks_on_free_speech_in_Free_software (or
long-established_technical_vocabulary) it’s important to understand who’s who


   🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇You need not be male to choose who to kill in a drone
                                   strike⦈


Summary: Outreachy’s role in the Free software community and inclusion in the
FSF’s High Priority Projects, as seen from the eyes of a female coder from a
minority group; she used to work for the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and she
expresses concerns about what Outreachy has become


THIS is a uniquely difficult subject to tackle. It’s easier to tackle this one
if one is an ethnic minority (from an American/US perspective) and not male.
When Daniel Pocock wrote_about_it_some_weeks_ago we got a mixture of responses;
the instinct of critics it to make assumptions about the messenger to distract
from or ‘deflate’ the message.


“Remember the role SFC played in ousting Richard Stallman. Nobody should forget
that.”For today’s article, which isn’t a guest article but rather similar to
that, we’re helped by a reader who has been around for over two decades,
advocating Free software and at one point also working for the FSF. She has no
reason to oppose racial diversity (rather than contrary) and accusations of
“sexism” would be misplaced here. The focus is on the roles of people, not
names or genders; money does not have a gender. (Well, pedantic folks tell me
that “in many languages it does,” but not in English)


The article started due to a request for FSF HPP Feedback. “Recently,” the
reader noted, “I was approached by a member of the FSF community (by encrypted
communications). I was informed about the HPP feedback.”


To quote: “The HPP committee is currently collecting feedback on the High
Priority Free Software Projects list. Submit your ideas about areas of
improvement to the HPP list and specific projects of great strategic importance
to the goal of freedom for all computer users before January 8, 2021.
Submit your ideas to hpp-feedback@gnu.org”


🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇We're here to liberate Free software from bad people and we
are armed⦈ “Last night,” she said, “I looked into the list… and found an item
added for Outreachy.”


“As you may know,” she added, “Outreachy is an org, I believe started by Karen
Sandler, the SFC Executive Director. Also, I believe Outreachy also won some
award from the FSF. In fact, the past 3 years, FSF awards were awarded to SFC
related persons.”


She named “Karen”, “Deb”, and “Outreachy person last year” (we won’t add a
name).


“Also,” she said, “I believe SFC is the legal counsel for FSF… I think so. I
mean, if SFC is working with/for FSF, and FSF is promoting SFC projects, is
this ethically acceptable or is this conflict of interest. Going further, isn’t
this giving SFC an advantage and thus possibly not in line with tax exemption?
Maybe a reach… but still – such cronyism!”


🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇Richard Stallman leaves MIT after Bill Gates pays MIT
through a serial rapist (Epstein)⦈ Remember the role SFC played in ousting
Richard Stallman. Nobody should forget that. They not only issued a press
release with strong condemnation; they had a chair in the Board. We nowadays
have a good understanding of what happened inside the FSF. It happened around
the time “Deb” (above) was raising money from Microsoft… for the SFC. The SFC’s
coup accelerated a month after Bill_Gates_had_a_massive_MIT_scandal_connected
to_child_trafficking_(for_sex). This did not bother the SFC, which took_money
from_Microsoft once again only months later.


If the SFC is “OK” with raising money from the most anti-GPL company founded by
a close_friend_of_Mr._Epstein, then we know that the SFC is neither about
Software Freedom — right there in the SFC’s name! — nor about women or young
girls. Double standards are an astounding thing if you can sell_keynote
speeches_in_a_copyleft_event_to_the_company_which_attacks_copyleft_like_no
other_company_ever_did. With a turnover at millions of dollars, one might be
tempted to say that SFC is about money, not Freedom (no matter what it may have
stood for in the more distant past).


Let’s face it — GPL enforcement will never be as profitable (financially
rewarding) as buckling to the tune of “corporate masters” to whom sponsorships
are a slush fund’s little slush fund.


“At any rate,” our reader said, “the list is here. So, most of these projects
seem sound… However, when you see the content for this one, the focus is
Outreachy… Where are other important organizations and initiatives? Why is the
[FSF's] focus the org [that] the legal counsel started? There are so many good
orgs, why ONLY Outreachy?”


To quote the_page from Georgia Young:


     Free software relies on contributions from community members. But
     systemic barriers often prevent interested individuals from becoming
     contributors, especially when those individuals are from groups that
     have been historically marginalized.


     The free software movement is a movement for everyone’s freedom. It
     cannot succeed if it does not expand and make the effort to welcome
     all people.


     Initiatives like Outreachy provide support and opportunities for
     underrepresented people to engage with free software projects and
     become active contributors. By actively working to empower many kinds
     of people to contribute to free software, the project introduces
     entire communities to the concept of software freedom, via members of
     their community. More contributors and users, and a greater diversity
     of thought and experience, make the free software community stronger.


     Ways to help


     Donate to Outreachy.


     Encourage your organization or company to offer an Outreachy
     internship or become a financial sponsor of the program.


     Or apply for an Outreachy internship.


     Adopt a code of conduct for your free software project’s community,
     and enforce it. Geek Feminism offers a useful anti-harassment guide
     for technical communities.


     This is just one item on the Free Software Foundation’s High Priority
     Projects list.


We’ve not edited anything. That’s just what the page says. “Now,” our reader
noted, “that being said, I do believe there is something odd about Outreachy. I
see they get support/promotion from LF, FSF, IBM, Google. It started as Gnome
outreach program for women, right? So, the SFC Executive Director starts
Outreachy. Then the FSF, who they are lawyers for, promotes Outreachy. They
received Google Summer of Code funds and use to silence people.” (As per the
article from Pocock, based on his own experiences as a mentor in Google Summer
of Code)


“I bet there is more,” our reader said, “we just need to keep our eyes open.”


This whole subject is rather difficult to tackle, especially for a male,
because one is destined to be labelled “misogynist” or “sexist” or something
along those lines for just bringing it up (with equivalents for racial prisms,
sometimes even ableism). As if any male around Outreachy is a mole or a
suspect. Maybe this is inadvertently the very intention of it. Companies that
themselves aren’t diverse at all and are routinely sued for discrimination want
to silence their critics in a passive-aggressive fashion. █


“No other large companies as far as I know use their employees as attack dogs
to silen[ce] dissent. It’s time for Microsoft to stop this nonsense.”


            –Michael_Arrington,_The_Prickly_Prince_From_Microsoft_Strikes_Again



                    ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 1068

╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕

(ℹ) Images, hyperlinks and comments at http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/save-epo-money/#comments

⠀⌧ █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 11.29.20⠀▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ ⌧


✐ EPO_Can_Save_Money_by_“Dropping_Events_Like_the_Inventor_of_the_Year,
Reducing_the_Number_of_Managers,_Throwing_Less_Money_at_Consultants_or_Bringing
the_Boards_of_Appeal_Back_into_Office_Buildings.”⠀✐


Posted in Europe, Patents at 5:22 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz


Last year’s ‘naughty list’


                    🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇A letter to Santa⦈


Summary: Constructive suggestions from EPO staff, made just over a year ago and
assembled into a letter to their EPO colleagues


ALMOST exactly a year ago the Central Staff Committee of the EPO circulated the
following letter, citing the abuses of Benoît_Battistelli (ironically occupying
a_law_school now) and the dubious claims from António_Campinos (regarding the
financial situation of the Office). Today we reproduce the letter in full:


     Munich, 19.11.2019
     sc19165cp – 0.2.1/1.3.1/1.3.2


     § The President’s “Phase II Team Feedback” exercise⠀➾


     Thank you for speaking and standing up, for your staunch support, for
     your solidarity and for your scarce time


     Dear colleagues,


     The President had requested team managers to ask staff to voice
     preference amongst “measures 1 to 10” proposed in Phase II of the
     Financial Study. The Central Staff Committee, the local Staff
     Committees and individual Committee members received a flood of e-
     mails in which you copied the replies you sent to your Team Managers
     or Directors – or the managers and directors sent to senior
     management.


     The overwhelming feedback you gave followed our earlier publications,
     the general assemblies across the sites and the demos in Munich and
     The Hague. The e-mails differed in form and size, some with a brief
     and direct message, others quite elaborate with sound analysis and
     alternative proposals, and made for interesting reading. You, too,
     concluded that the measures were political.


     Most of the e-mails claimed for discussing the issue with elected
     staff representatives as the legitimate port of call, a very large
     proportion clearly doubted that there was a funding-gap and many of
     you complained that you were bothered with a fake consultation
     exercise in the situation of having to meet the highest production
     demands ever. The vast majority of those of you who copied us in did
     not choose between evil and worse, whilst some still voiced
     preferences for particular measures. Others were explicitly outspoken
     against some measures. Many claimed a fairer distribution of any
     potential burden also over e.g. member states and applicants. Some
     stressed that savings could be made also from sources other than
     those covered in the 17 measures, namely not engaging in a
     comprehensive building investment programme, dropping events like the
     Inventor of the Year, reducing the number of managers, throwing less
     money at consultants or bringing the Boards of Appeal back into
     Office buildings.


     Before the Battistelli reforms, which are still a millstone around
     staff’s neck today, staff representation always discussed and managed
     to convince management to drop not so good ideas and limit
     detrimental impact for staff. It is time to return to the
     consultation our Codex foresees, so that we can add value again to
     the Office’s decision making process.


     If you are still undecided whether the 17 measures are necessary,
     useful or good, please take some of the very limited time at your
     disposal to read up on what can make or break your future. Check out
     our recent publications Gathering the views of staff, Transcripts of
     the TH general assemblies – includes many links to other documents,
     Reply to the interviews with 4 TM’s, Feedback from the Pensioners
     Association, SUEPO Munich – A divisive Exercise and Staff Committees’
     1st views on the 17 measures.


     The deadline for the President’s Phase II Team Feedback has passed.
     We appreciate your involvement and input, so please keep the e-mails
     coming to centralstcom@epo.org if you want to share your thoughts
     with the Staff Committees. We are preparing for the discussions with
     the management team on Wednesday, studying the dossier and having
     people who know about finances, know about career, know about
     pensions, and have a long experience in discussing with management.
     Watch this space for more news after the first meeting on Wednesday!


     Thank you


     Your staff representatives


The patent office needs to go back to basics; no silly festivals, gambling and
union-busting activities. No censorship either. Why would a patent office block
a site like ours? Are they employing kids or grown-ups? █


“They [EPO examiners] claim that the organisation is decentralising and
focusing on granting as many patents as possible to gain financially from fees
generated.” —Expatica



                    ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 1195

╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕

(ℹ) Images, hyperlinks and comments at http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/suepo-to-president-of-the-epo/#comments

⠀⌧ █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 11.29.20⠀▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ ⌧


✐ Reasons_EPO_Staff_Decided_to_Go_on_Strike_This_Year_(Before_or_Until
Coronavirus_Prevented_It)⠀✐


Posted in Europe, Patents at 5:52 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz


May 2019: António_Campinos_Has_Run_Out_of_Time_and_EPO_Staff_is_Going_on_Strike
(Skipping_Mere_Protests)


                🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇EPO vs Staff unequal fight⦈


Summary: An year-old letter from the Staff Union of the European Patent Office
(SUEPO) to the President of the EPO; 7 reasons for going on strike are
enumerated


DAYS ago we mentioned how COVID-19 helped the EPO‘s management (Team
Battistelli/Campinos) prevent_a_strike. “There are many reasons for discontent
in the Office,” the staff union (SUEPO) explained, “including, but not limited
to, Mr Campinos’ 17 measures. On Friday 8 November, SUEPO therefore filed a
call for strike according to the circular on strikes (C347).”


“At the end, staff voted for a strike, but then came COVID-19.”There are
already many severe restrictions against strikes (made even stricter by
Battistelli). “As you may recall,” SUEPO continued, “the current (unlawful)
regulations on strike are so stringent that organising a strike may take more
than a month. The call for strike of 8 November ensures that a ballot can be
organised before the next Administrative Council. SUEPO will of course turn in
due time to its members, who will eventually decide on the actions. It is now
up to the administration to enter into negotiations with SUEPO and organise the
ballot before 9 December.”


At the end, staff voted for a strike, but then came COVID-19. Here’s the letter
from SUEPO as HTML:


     8 November 2019
     su19043cl


     To Mr Campinos, President of the EPO


     Call for strike


     Dear Mr Campinos,


     SUEPO Central calls for a strike in all EPO sites in accordance with
     Circular 347.


     Reasons_for_strike


     Sixteen months after your arrival as President of the EPO, we note
     with regret that none of the root causes of the many issues that
     trouble our organisation have been addressed satisfactorily. Genuine
     social dialogue is simply non-existing. The Battistelli
     administration and its anti-staff policies are still in place. The
     situation in the Office is more toxic than ever, as also shown by the
     recent disastrous staff survey results and the worsening of staff
     health. There are many reasons for discontent. Therefore we claim:


     1. Fair settlement for all SUEPO Officials/Staff representatives
     abusively sanctioned by the Battistelli administration;
     2. Review by independent experts of the financial situation of the
     Office; no unnecessary measures based on the heavily biased Financial
     Study (also criticised by the EPO Pensioners Association), its
     ensuing phase II (CA/83/19) and management’s comments (CA/84/19);
     3. Using the “seventeen measures for staff and the EPO” published by
     SUEPO on 2 October 2019 (su19040cp) as guidance to solve the issues
     listed above and below;
     4. Fair career progression for everyone, no managerial arbitrariness;
     5. Respect for staff; decrease of work pressure and production
     demands;
     6. Fair reporting, no artificial underrating of colleagues and
     threats of incompetence procedures;
     7. People-oriented management, instead of management by fear.


     These issues must be solved to avoid irreparable damage to our
     organisation and its staff, and to restore respect and trust. This
     requires a change not only of certain regulations, but also in the
     attitude of the administration towards staff.


     Yours sincerely,


     SUEPO Central


As they rightly note, even the EPO Pensioners Association is upset, but
pensioners cannot go on strike (they no longer work). Even past (retired) EPO
staff suffers from the current policies. This assures_brain_drain and harms
Europe. █



                    ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 1311

╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕

(ℹ) Images, hyperlinks and comments at http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/the-epo-financial-siege/#comments

⠀⌧ █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 11.29.20⠀▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ ⌧


✐ Release:_4_More_Documents_and_Letters_About_the_Financial_Siege_at_Europe’s
Second-Largest_Institution⠀✐


Posted in Europe, Patents at 7:45 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz


Yesterday: Nine_Documents_About_the_Financial_Siege_Against_EPO_Staff_(Past,
Present,_and_Future) (the trickle-up effect, crushing the middle class to
further enrich the super-rich)


                     🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇EPO_in_Breitbart⦈_


                     🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇Breitbart Mercer⦈


                      🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇Parler Mercer⦈


Summary: Documents disputing the accuracy of the “hoax” from António Campinos
and the Mercers


THE financial ‘reforms’ or ‘adjustments’ at the EPO are neither; they’re a
brutal attack on staff, based on a lie. Who made up the lie? Donald Trump
associates. Why did the EPO even hire them?


“Isn’t it revealing that this so-called ‘study’ came from people connected to
the far right?”It started with Benoît_Battistelli and it continues unrelented
with António_Campinos; even the Dutch delegation and German delegation at the
Administrative Council of the EPO aren't_too_happy_about_it_anymore. Below we
add 4 more papers and letters about the so-called financial ‘study’ (a “hoax”)
that the management paid for in order to justify crushing staff:


    * Financial_study [PDF]
    * Financial_study_discussions [PDF]
    * Interview_on_financial_study [PDF]
    * EPO_pensioners’_letter [PDF]
Isn’t it revealing that this so-called ‘study’ came from people connected to
the far right? █



                    ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 1367

╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕

(ℹ) Images, hyperlinks and comments at http://techrights.org/2020/11/29/upc-blazes/#comments

⠀⌧ █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 11.29.20⠀▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ ⌧


✐ [Meme]_Unified_Patent_Court_Agreement_(UPCA)_is_an_Attack_on_Europe_and_the
European_Businesses_That_Don’t_Do_Litigation⠀✐


Posted in Europe, Patents at 6:49 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz


Some people make a living from feuds


              🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇Unified Patent Court Agreement⦈


Summary: Litigation lawyers and patent zealots want to set Europe ablaze with
legislation that they themselves crafted; thankfully, however, they face
constitutional obstacles, no matter how many politicians they bamboozle and buy



                    ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 1395

╒═══════════════════ 𝐃𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 ═════════════════════════════════════════════╕

⠀⌧ █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 11.29.20⠀▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ ⌧


✐ Links_29/11/2020:_Genode_OS_Framework_20.11,_Linux_5.11_Kernel_Changes,_and
Latest_in_KDE_Itinerary⠀✐


Posted in News_Roundup at 12:47 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz


🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇GNOME bluefish⦈


§ Contents⠀➾


    * GNU/Linux
          o Distributions
          o Devices/Embedded
    * Free_Software/Open_Source
    * Leftovers
    * § GNU/Linux⠀➾


          o ⚓ Linux_Weekly_Roundup:_Blender_2.91,_LibreOffice_7.1_Beta,_Ardour
            6.4⠀⇛


                 Here’s this week’s roundup series, curated for you from
                 the Linux and open-source world on application updates,
                 new releases, distribution updates, major news, and
                 upcoming highlights.


          o § Desktop/Laptop⠀➾


                # ⚓ About_Intel_NUC_Computer⠀⇛


                # ⚓ About_Asus_Chromebox_–_Linux_Hint⠀⇛


                       In partnership with Google, Asus joined the
                       bandwagon in reinventing desktops into smaller
                       forms and integrating Chrome OS into it, breathing
                       new life to the declining traditional forms. Asus
                       Chromebox is an elegantly-styled, lightweight,
                       compact, and versatile desktop. It’s highly favored
                       by users who only need the basics of a desktop
                       computer, such as web browsing, video streaming,
                       and simple file processing. Furthermore, it has
                       full support for Android apps on Google play. The
                       price tag is also pocket-friendly, especially if
                       you are content with lower-end models. There is
                       also no need to install anti-virus software as the
                       built-in security with Chrome OS automatically
                       installs updates and fixes, keeping it safe from
                       some malware and viruses. Although Asus Chromebox
                       has not been the first in the market, it has been
                       making waves since its introduction in 2014.


          o § Audiocasts/Shows⠀➾


                # ⚓ Yacy_Is_The_Search_Engine_That_Respects_Your_Privacy_–
                  YouTube⠀⇛


                       Yacy is a decentralized, peer-to-peer web search
                       engine. All users are equal with no central
                       controlling authority. Access to the search
                       functions is made by a locally running web server
                       which provides a search box to enter search terms,
                       and returns search results in a similar format to
                       other popular search engines.


                # ⚓ Ubuntu_20.04_LTS_Vs_Ubuntu_20.10_|_Which_Is_The_BEST
                  Version?_|_7_THINGS_To_Consider_–_YouTube⠀⇛


                       Ubuntu 20.10, Groovy Gorilla is out and like all
                       non-LTS releases, this version is packed with new
                       features and changes. We get a ton of improvements
                       in the user interface especially. With GNOME 3.38
                       bringing many advancements like an adjustable
                       Application grid, an efficient calendar and so much
                       more to this new Ubuntu, We now have 2 actively
                       supported versions of Ubuntu to choose from. And
                       they both are quite different from each other in
                       how they look, how they behave, their support
                       period, their target user base, and many other
                       things.


                # ⚓ Picom:_Window_Blur_Should_Always_Be_This_Easy_–_YouTube⠀⇛


                       Window blur has been an absolute pain with picom,
                       you’ve had run really out of date forks that have
                       other missing features that you might want but no
                       longer because it can be done in the main picom
                       fork.


                # ⚓ 5_Reasons_Why_KDE_Plasma_=_Best_Desktop_Environment⠀⇛


                       KDE Plasma is my favorite desktop environment on
                       Linux. In this video, I offer my Top 5 Reasons why
                       I think KDE Plasma is the best desktop environment
                       for me.


          o § Kernel Space⠀➾


                # ⚓ Pioneer_DDJ-RR_DJ_Controller_To_Be_Supported_By_The_Linux
                  5.11_Kernel⠀⇛


                       For aspiring DJs wanting to mix beats under Linux,
                       the Pioneer DJ DDJ-RR controller should be working
                       come Linux 5.11 early next year.


                       The Pioneer DDJ-RR is quite a capable ~$699 USD DJ
                       controller that offers the mixing potential of many
                       higher-end Pioneer DDJ devices but at a lower price
                       point and geared for introductory DJs. The DDJ-RR
                       is a two-channel controller and offers all of the
                       common dedicated controls most DJs would make use
                       of while offering high quality audio output.


                       The DDJ-RR is designed to be used under Windows
                       with the Rekordbox DJ software. However, this DJ
                       controller will now work with Linux 5.11+ so it can
                       be used with software like the open-source Mixxx DJ
                       software package.


                # ⚓ Linux_5.11_Adds_“Magic”_To_Support_Guitar_Hero_Live
                  PlayStation_3_/_Wii_U_Dongles_–_Phoronix⠀⇛


                       The latest bit of obscure hardware support set to
                       arrive with Linux 5.11 are the PlayStation 3 and
                       Nintendo Wii U dongles for the Guitar Hero Live.


                       Should you be wanting to use a Guitar Hero Live
                       device connected to your Linux system by means of a
                       PlayStation 3 or Nintendo Wii U wireless dongle,
                       that support will work early next year with Linux
                       5.11.


                       Support has been queued into the hid-next code
                       ahead of December’s Linux 5.11 merge window. The
                       PS3/Wii-U dongles share the same IDs for
                       identifying the device, but beyond adding the
                       device IDs there is some extra steps needed for
                       support.


                # ⚓ Mediatek_DRM_Driver_Adding_MT8167_Support_In_Linux_5.11_–
                  Phoronix⠀⇛


                       The Mediatek MT8167 SoC was announced four years
                       ago already while for the Linux 5.11 kernel in
                       early 2021 will finally be display support via the
                       open-source Mediatek DRM driver.


                       The Mediatek MT8167 SoC is used by several
                       different Android tablets in recent years. Among
                       the users of the SoC are the Acer Iconia One,
                       Winnovo Tablet 8, Lenovo ZA400027US, and others.
                       This SoC has two Cortex-A72 cores and four Cortex-
                       A53 low-power cores. The 3D graphics are based on
                       the PowerVR GX6250 but what’s being supported with
                       Linux 5.11 is just the display support for this SoC
                       and not any PowerVR acceleration.


          o § Applications⠀➾


                # ⚓ 5_Best_Free_and_Open_source_NAS_Software_for_Linux⠀⇛


                       In the 21st century, huge innovations have been
                       made in various sectors, particularly the
                       technological region, which has completely changed
                       the world’s dimensions. The strides at which new
                       technology has been developed and improved upon
                       from its predecessors would surely be something
                       that our ancestors would marvel at.


                       Humans have gone in a very short time from making
                       stone arrows and straw huts to developing
                       smartphones and automated robots, and these
                       advancements are continuously growing without
                       slowing down. However, this huge transition has
                       also brought forward some adverse effects as our
                       machines are now subjected to more cyber-attacks
                       and security issues. Data is one of the most
                       important factors in the world today, and it is
                       exactly that which is the most vulnerable.


                       Therefore, it is necessary to implement procedures
                       that would help in keeping your data secure. One
                       excellent way is to use NAS software, which helps
                       in keeping backups of your data. This shall also be
                       the topic of our discussion in this article, where
                       we will be looking at the top 5 free and open-
                       source NAS software available on Linux.


                # ⚓ Best_Photo_Editors_for_Linux⠀⇛


                       This article will cover a list of free and open-
                       source image editors available for Linux. These
                       applications feature basic tools for simple editing
                       needs as well as advanced utilities for
                       professional artists.


                       GIMP


                       If you are a regular Linux user, chances are that
                       you must have heard about GIMP (GNU Image
                       Manipulation Program) or used it to edit images. It
                       is considered to be one of the most comprehensive,
                       free, and open source image editing software
                       available not only on Linux, but also on other
                       operating systems like Windows and macOS. While
                       some users may prefer proprietary tools like
                       Photoshop over it, GIMP itself is packed with tons
                       of features and can do almost everything that
                       Photoshop is capable of. You can see all major
                       features of GIMP available at here and here. GIMP
                       can be extended using plugins, some of them come
                       with the official installation while others can be
                       downloaded from third party websites.


                       [...]


                       RawTherapee


                       RawTherapee is an open source image editing
                       software specially designed for processing and
                       handling “raw” images. You can also import and edit
                       image files having other formats. RawTherapee
                       features various utilities for processing raw
                       images including color enhancement tools,
                       compositing and masking utilities, pixel correction
                       tools and HDR utilities.


          o § Instructionals/Technical⠀➾


                # ⚓ How_to_Install_PHP_8_on_CentOS_8_–_Cloudbooklet⠀⇛


                       How to Install PHP 8 on CentOS. This guide let you
                       learn how install the latest PHP version 8 on your
                       CentOS system or your CentOS server on any VPS or
                       any Cloud or any Dedicated hosting and configure it
                       with Httpd and Nginx.


                       The latest PHP 8 version is officially released on
                       November 26th, 2020. It comes with a number of new
                       features and a few incompatibilities that you
                       should be aware of before upgrading from the
                       previous version.


                       This installation is tested on Google Cloud
                       Platform with a Compute Compute Engine VM Instance.
                       So this set up is guaranteed to work on all Linux
                       based servers.


                # ⚓ How_to_install_Jenkins_on_Ubuntu_20_in_7_simple_steps⠀⇛


                       In April of 2020, Ubuntu released Focal Fossa, the
                       latest LTS version of the popular Linux
                       distribution.


                       As such, DevOps developers interested in taking
                       advantage of the latest Ubuntu features in their CI
                       builds are looking at performing an Jenkins
                       installations of Ubuntu 20, which is exactly the
                       focus of this tutorial.


                # ⚓ How_to_run_Jenkins_builds_on_Docker⠀⇛


                       If you’re Jenkins builds don’t use Docker, you’re
                       not playing the continuous integration game on
                       expert level.


                       By delegating the compile, test, package and deploy
                       steps to a Docker container, Jenkins installations
                       don’t need to be supplemented with a suite of build
                       tools such as Maven, Gradle or Ant. And
                       environments that integrate Jenkins with Docker
                       need not be bothered with the ongoing of
                       maintenance and upkeep of quality control software
                       such as Sonarcube or Nexus. Just use a pre-
                       configured Docker container and your Jenkins builds
                       get access to all of those resources, without the
                       headache of managing and maintaining all of that
                       peripheral software. The integration of Jenkins
                       with Docker really is the smartest way to do
                       continuous integration.


                # ⚓ How_to_monitor_file_content_while_they_change_in_Linux⠀⇛


                       Monitoring file changes in a real time is very easy
                       to do task in Linux System.


                       Directory, files, logs, etc. Changes can be easily
                       monitored in real-time with the help of the watch
                       command.


                       The watch is easy to use the program to monitor
                       changes in files or directories in Linux. It’s come
                       by pre-installed in all Debian and arch-based Linux
                       System.


                # ⚓ What_option_to_use_for_ping_constantly_until_you_stop_it?_–
                  Linux_Shout⠀⇛


                       The Ping program is a widely used tool to check the
                       accessibility of a computer network. All operating
                       systems available till now have the ability to run
                       the Ping command with various options to even
                       continuously check the network resource or
                       connection availability. However, if a firewall
                       suppresses ping packets on the way from your
                       computer to the host, it can falsely appear to be
                       unreachable.


                       To do this, it sends echo request packets to the
                       host via ICMP. Using the time difference between
                       this and the response (echo reply), it calculates
                       the runtime. Ping was defined in RFC 1574.


                # ⚓ How_to_Cast_Media_from_Ubuntu_to_Chromecast_|_FOSS_Linux⠀⇛


                       In this Ubuntu tutorial, we shall see ways to cast
                       media from a Linux PC to a Chromecast device. We
                       shall see command-line and GUI ways of casting the
                       content.


                # ⚓ How_do_I_view_Nginx_logs?_–_Linux_Hint⠀⇛


                       Logs are very important in a system to monitor the
                       activities of an application as they provide you
                       with useful debugging information and enable you to
                       analyze all aspects of a web server. Like the other
                       software applications, Nginx also maintains events
                       like your web site visitors, encountered problems,
                       and more to log files. The useful recorded
                       information is used to take preemptive measures in
                       order to deal with major serious discrepancies in
                       the log events.


                       In this article, we will elaborate on how to
                       configure and view Nginx Logs in Ubuntu 20.04
                       system to monitor the application activities.


                       There are two types of logs where recorded events
                       in Nginx one is the access log, and the other is
                       the error log. If you have already enabled these
                       logs in the Nginx core configuration file then, you
                       can find both types of logs in /var/log/nginx in
                       all Linux distributions.


                # ⚓ How_To_Install_PowerShell_on_CentOS_8 [Ed: Microsoft is
                  just trying to turn GNU/Linux into its own thing, intended to
                  serve Microsoft's bottom line and lock-in]⠀⇛


                # ⚓ OSINT_Tools_and_Techniques_–_Linux_Hint⠀⇛


                       OSINT, or Open Source Intelligence, is the act of
                       gathering data from distributed and freely
                       accessible sources. OSINT tools are used to gather
                       and correspond data from the Web. Data is
                       accessible in different structures, including text
                       design, documents, images, etc. The analysis and
                       collection of information from the Internet or
                       other publicly available sources is known as OSINT
                       or Open Source Intelligence. This is a technique
                       used by intelligence and security companies to
                       gather information. This article provides a look at
                       some of the most useful OSINT tools and techniques.


                # ⚓ How_to_Record_Your_Gnome_Desktop_in_Ubuntu_with_built-in
                  screen_recorder_–_Linux_Hint⠀⇛


                       In the present era, the lives of the people have
                       undergone a huge change from what it used to be a
                       couple of years back. In the educational sector,
                       books have fallen down the pecking order, and
                       people now prefer watching videos explaining the
                       concepts of their syllabus. A great example of this
                       is YouTube, where videos on things like programming
                       languages, economics, political science, and even
                       geography are getting many viewers. The business
                       sector has also gone through some innovation as now
                       people can easily keep a record of important voice
                       calls and conferences that might be needed for
                       looking at the main highlights of the meeting. Even
                       recording presentations and then sharing them with
                       your clients or bosses have become the norm as this
                       allows information to be passed from one to another
                       in a much more efficient manner. All of these are
                       just a few examples of why screen recorders are one
                       of the most useful tools out there. Screen
                       recorders can even be used for recording content
                       that many people may find enjoyable, such as
                       recording a game that might be on the rise in
                       popularity or put up videos to explain any issues
                       or problems that you might come across in your
                       life, like checking to see how one can remove and
                       adjust tires from a car. Hence, our discussion
                       topic in this article is to look at how one can
                       record their screens in Ubuntu using its default
                       built-in screen recorder.


                # ⚓ Blender_Animation_Nodes_–_Linux_Hint⠀⇛


                       Blender animation nodes is a visual scripting
                       system made for motion graphics in Blender.
                       Animation nodes are an addon that is available for
                       macOS, Linux, and Windows.


                       There are a lot of things which you just can
                       imagine to animate by hand because it is a very
                       difficult task. Animation Nodes allows us to make
                       complex animation in a less complex and tedious
                       way.


                       Animation Nodes add-ons can save you a lot of time
                       and has several advantages over traditional
                       keyframing technique. For instance, you can avoid
                       managing many keyframes, and each node tree can be
                       used for any objects; you don’t have to keyframe
                       them every time.


                # ⚓ Blender_Animation_Loops_–_Linux_Hint⠀⇛


                       Blender is a powerful 3D creation tool. Blender
                       holds all the attributes that a 3D artist needs.
                       Sometimes a short movie tells a lot than an image.
                       Making 3D scenes in Blender is great, but animating
                       it is another level of mastering this program. So,
                       it is essential to know about adding motion to 3D
                       objects.


                       Animation is an excellent way to connect and
                       communicate with people; that’s why it is vital in
                       the business world. Conveying a message through
                       animation is considerably more appealing than
                       images. Whether it is education or businesses, the
                       film industry, or gaming, animation is being used
                       everywhere.


          o § Games⠀➾


                # ⚓ Inspired_by_the_likes_of_Cube_World,_open_source_RPG
                  Veloren_has_the_biggest_update_yet_|_GamingOnLinux⠀⇛


                       Currently in development and not yet considered a
                       full game but still very impressive anyway, Veloren
                       is a free and open source multiplayer voxel RPG.
                       Inspired by the likes of Cube World, Legend of
                       Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Dwarf Fortress and
                       Minecraft it’s a very exciting project to be
                       following. Written in the popular Rust programming
                       language it fully supports Linux, macOS and
                       Windows.


                       This latest release is the biggest yet, with
                       overhauls to various parts of the game as well as
                       introducing plenty of new features to keep players
                       busy.


                       [...]


                       The full source code is up on GitLab.


                # ⚓ Godot_Engine_–_Godot’s_2D_engine_gets_several_improvements
                  for_upcoming_4.0⠀⇛


                       While the focus of Godot 4.0 Vulkan rewrite has
                       largely been enhancements to the 3D engine, the 2D
                       side will also see several improvements.


                       Improved Performance


                       Thanks to Vulkan (which has a much lower draw-call
                       cost than OpenGL), 2D itself in Godot 4.0 will see
                       a speedup for free. But that’s not the only reason,
                       many internal improvements and optimizations also
                       contribute to a smoother experience. Changes in
                       memory allocation strategy and internal
                       simplification in draw call logic make it much more
                       efficient to manually call thousands of draw()
                       functions from a node’s _draw() callback. Many of
                       these improvements will also accelerate GLES3 and
                       GLES2 back-ends.


                       Improved 2D lighting


                       Godot 3.x supported 2D lighting, but this did not
                       happen without several constraints. The main one
                       was performance due to every light being rendered
                       in a separate draw pass. This is no longer a
                       problem in 4.0, as all lights are drawn in a single
                       pass.


                # ⚓ 8_best_casual_Linux_computer_games⠀⇛


                       Are you in the mood for some casual computer games
                       on your Linux PC like Solitare or Chess, or Sudoku?
                       Don’t know the first thing about installing these
                       types of video games on your Linux PC? If so,
                       follow along as we go over the 8 best casual Linux
                       computer games!


          o § Desktop Environments/WMs⠀➾


                # § K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt⠀➾


                      # ⚓ October/November_in_KDE_Itinerary⠀⇛


                             A lot has happened around KDE Itinerary in
                             the past two months again, since the last
                             summary blog. All components will be part of
                             the KDE release service starting with the
                             20.12 series, we got a new backend server for
                             the station maps, arrival and departure
                             platforms are now properly identified, and
                             much more.


                             [...]


                             The biggest news behind the scenes is that
                             the new backend for maps.kde.org is now
                             finally live! This gives us up-to-date OSM
                             data for the train station maps, with a lot
                             more detail and various precision loss issues
                             fixed. Most visible is probably that we now
                             also see platform section labels and ticket
                             machines, as well as almost all geometry
                             reassembly glitches being fixed now.


                             This work not only helps KDE Itinerary, but
                             also the primary user of this system, Marble.
                             A big thank you to the sysadmin team for
                             making that happen!


                             A number of things are happening around KDE’s
                             Android infrastructure as well, which KDE
                             Itinerary relies upon. See the dedicated post
                             on that.


          o § Distributions⠀➾


                # § BSD⠀➾


                      # ⚓ How_to_install_FreeBSD_on_Raspberry_Pi?_(step-by-step
                        guide)⠀⇛


                             FreeBSD is an original operating system you
                             can install on Raspberry Pi to experiment a
                             bit outside Linux. But the process is not
                             always easy if you are used to working on
                             Debian-like systems.


                             Today, we’ll see how to install it on a
                             Raspberry Pi, to configure it and use it like
                             almost like any other operating system.


                # § IBM/Red Hat/Fedora⠀➾


                      # ⚓ Ken_Hess_(Red_Hat):_Cyber_Week_2020:_13_ideas_for
                        what_to_buy_the_sysadmin_in_your_life_|_Enable
                        Sysadmin⠀⇛


                             It’s that special time of year when you can
                             get great discounts on tech for your favorite
                             sysadmin.


                      # ⚓ [IBM_Emeritus]_Irving_Wladawsky-Berger:_Are_There
                        Limits_to_the_Predictability_of_Elections?⠀⇛


                             The elegant mathematical models of classical
                             mechanics depict a world in which objects
                             exhibit deterministic behaviors. These models
                             make perfect predictions within the accuracy
                             of their human-scale measurements.


                             But, once you start dealing with atoms,
                             molecules and exotic subatomic particles, you
                             find yourself in a very different world, one
                             with somewhat counter-intuitive behaviors
                             governed by the laws of quantum mechanics.
                             The orderly, predictable models of classical
                             physics have now given way to wave functions,
                             uncertainty principles, quantum tunneling and
                             wave-particle dualities.


                             But, the world of the very small is not the
                             only one with non-deterministic behaviors. So
                             are highly complex systems, especially those
                             systems whose components and
                             interrelationships are themselves quite
                             complex. This is the case with social
                             systems, which are based on individuals,
                             groups, and institutions. It’s quite a
                             challenge to make accurate predictions in
                             such systems due to the the dynamic nature of
                             human behaviors. Terms, like emergence, long
                             tails, and butterfly effects – every bit as
                             fanciful as quarks, charm and strangeness, –
                             are part of the social systems lexicon.


                             Which brings us to the 2020 US election. “The
                             polls were wrong again, and much of America
                             wants to know why,” wrote NY Times journalist
                             David Leonhardt in a recent article. “This is
                             a disaster for the polling industry and for
                             media outlets and analysts that package and
                             interpret the polls for public consumption,
                             such as FiveThirtyEight, The New York Times’
                             Upshot, and The Economist’s election unit,”
                             said David Graham in The Atlantic.


                      # ⚓ [Red_Hat]_Why_failure_should_be_normalized_and_how_to
                        do_it_|_Opensource.com⠀⇛


                             All of your heroes have failures under their
                             belts—from minor mistakes to major disasters.
                             Nobody knows how to do everything
                             automatically, and the process of learning is
                             usually a messy one. So why is the perception
                             that everyone but you knows what they’re
                             doing so common? Why do we externalize our
                             successes but internalize our failures?


                             How does it make you feel when you struggle
                             to learn something new, then see another
                             person take their Jira card away and return
                             at the end of the sprint with something fully
                             fleshed out and working, gushing about it at
                             the demo? Sure, you closed your card too, but
                             it was really hard! There was a new
                             algorithm, a new programming language, a new
                             system all to be learned. How did she make it
                             look so effortless?


                             The truth is, she might have struggled with
                             the same issues you did and wondered how you
                             made it look so effortless!


                             [...]


                             It could be very easy to title this section
                             “my mistakes” and then rattle off all the
                             times I’ve made mistakes, but that doesn’t
                             quite illustrate the point. I recognize these
                             mistakes, but they’re also events that
                             expanded the understanding of my craft. While
                             I didn’t set out to intentionally do any of
                             these things, I certainly learned from them.


                             I have accidentally dropped (deleted) a
                             customer’s database. It was lucky for
                             everyone that it was a beta-phase database
                             and no further harm was done. I learned a
                             valuable lesson that day: be very watchful of
                             what code is doing, and be careful about what
                             environment you are working in.


                             One day, while performing routine maintenance
                             with an odd DNS setup, I accidentally broke
                             the ability for customers to provide credit
                             card information to the secure site. We had
                             two “payments” DNS records that served to
                             override a wildcard DNS record, and I assumed
                             that the second “payments” record was still
                             present. It wasn’t. And then the wildcard
                             record took over, and the DNS started
                             behaving like “payments” wasn’t special at
                             all anymore. Of course, I had no idea this
                             was happening at all—it wasn’t until my
                             maintenance was over that I learned of the
                             folly.


                             Customers weren’t able to provide payment
                             information for almost two hours! I learned
                             my lesson, though: when there is something
                             special about a particular configuration, be
                             sure to make sure it stays special throughout
                             its lifetime. When DNS gets involved, all
                             kinds of things can break.


          o § Devices/Embedded⠀➾


                # ⚓ IKOULA_hosts_Raspberry_Pi_4_“micro_server”_for_4.99+_Euros
                  per_month⠀⇛


                       Hosting services for Arm single board computers
                       where you pay a monthly fee for a board, and have
                       it hosted in a datacenter with Internet access and
                       easy provisioning have been around for over six
                       years.


                       Last summer, we reported that Mythic Beasts and
                       mini Nodes had added Raspberry Pi 4 hosting plans
                       to their offerings, and others commented there were
                       also other companies. But I’ve just been informed
                       IKOULA, a hosting company based in France, had
                       introduced Raspberry Pi 4 “micro server” hosting
                       plans starting at just 4.99 Euros ex. VAT per
                       month.


                # § Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications⠀➾


                      # ⚓ Android_11-based_Paranoid_Android_ROMs_now_available
                        for_OnePlus_8_and_8_Pro⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ The_Realme_7_Pro_starts_to_get_Android_11_in_India⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ New_Xiaomi_Android_11_Update:_New_Fingerprint
                        Effects,_Vibrations,_Camera_UI,_Toasted_Notifications,
                        All_New_With_MIUI_12_Update⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ Micromax_IN_1b_2GB_RAM_variant_runs_Android_10_Go
                        Edition⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ How_to_download_PUBG_Mobile_1.1_Korean_(KR)_version
                        on_Android_devices:_Step-by-step_guide_for_beginners⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ How_you_can_Play_YouTube_within_the_Background_on
                        Android_and_iOS⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ New_Nokia_and_Garmin_gadgets;_PUBG_comeback;_Android
                        SMS_app_removed_and_other_top_tech_news_of_the_week⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ There’s_a_nasty_Android_app_input_bug_in_Chrome_OS_87
                        Beta_that_could_make_its_way_to_the_Stable_channel⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ 5_Android_apps_you_shouldn’t_miss_this_week_–_Android
                        Apps_Weekly⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ Get_this_large_75-inch_HiSense_4K_TV_with_Android_TV
                        for_40%_off!⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ Google_Chrome_for_Android_Will_Soon_Let_You_Move_the
                        Text_Cursor_With_Touch_Gestures⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ Android’s_next_major_boost_will_be_announced_this
                        week_and_iPhone_should_be_worried⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ Your_Raspberry_Pi_wants_this_Anker_SD_card_reader_for
                        Christmas⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ Huawei_began_to_get_rid_of_Android_on_its
                        smartphones⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ Realme_7_Pro_gets_Android_11-based_Realme_UI_2.0
                        early_access_update⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ 5_Best_RSS_Reader_Apps_for_Android⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ Haryana_govt_mulls_free_android_tablets_for
                        government_school_students⠀⇛


          o § Free, Libre, and Open Source Software⠀➾


                # ⚓ Release_notes_for_the_Genode_OS_Framework_20.11⠀⇛


                       With Genode 20.11, we focused on the scalability of
                       real-world application workloads, and nurtured
                       Genode’s support for 64-bit ARM hardware. We
                       thereby follow the overarching goal to run highly
                       sophisticated Genode-based systems on devices of
                       various form factors.


                       When speaking of real-world workloads, we
                       acknowledge that we cannot always know the exact
                       behavior of applications. The system must deal
                       gracefully with many unknowns: The roles and CPU
                       intensity of threads, the interplay of application
                       code with I/O, memory-pressure situations, or the
                       sudden fragility of otherwise very useful code. The
                       worst case must always be anticipated. In
                       traditional operating systems, this implies that
                       the OS kernel needs to be aware of certain
                       behavioral patterns of the applications, and has to
                       take decisions based on heuristics. Think of CPU
                       scheduling, load balancing among CPU cores, driving
                       power-saving features of the hardware, memory
                       swapping, caching, and responding to near-fatal
                       situations like OOM.


                       Genode allows us to move such complex heuristics
                       outside the kernel into dedicated components. Our
                       new CPU balancer described in Section CPU-load
                       balancing is a living poster child of our approach.
                       With this optional component, a part of a Genode
                       system can be subjected to a CPU-load balancing
                       policy of arbitrary complexity without affecting
                       the quality of service of unrelated components, and
                       without polluting the OS kernel with complexity.


                       A second aspect of real-world workloads is that
                       they are usually not designed for Genode. To
                       accommodate the wealth of time tested applications,
                       we need to bridge the massive gap between APIs of
                       olde (think of POSIX) and Genode’s clean-slate
                       interfaces. Section Streamlined ioctl handling in
                       the C runtime / VFS shows how the current release
                       leverages our novel VFS concept for the emulation
                       of traditional ioctl-based interfaces. So useful
                       existing applications come to live without
                       compromising the architectural benefits of Genode.


                       Platform-wise, the new release continues our
                       mission to host Genode-based systems such as Sculpt
                       OS on 64-bit ARM hardware. This work entails
                       intensive development of device drivers and the
                       overall driver architecture. Section Sculpt OS on
                       64-bit ARM hardware (i.MX8 EVK) reports on the
                       achievement of bringing Sculpt to 64-bit i.MX8
                       hardware. This line of work goes almost hand in
                       hand with the improvements of our custom virtual
                       machine monitor for ARM as outlined in Section
                       Multicore virtualization on ARM.


                # ⚓ Genode_OS_Framework_20.11_Brings_Dynamic_CPU_Load
                  Balancing,_64-bit_ARM_Sculpt_OS⠀⇛


                       Genode as an original operating system framework
                       that has been in development for more than a decade
                       is out with a new release. The Genode OS based
                       Sculpt OS as their “general purpose OS” push is
                       also updated.


                       This year the Genode Labs crew has been working a
                       lot on the ARM architecture support and that is
                       still a theme for this cycle. Genode OS Framework
                       20.11 brings Sculpt OS to 64-bit ARM and adds
                       support for multi-core virtualization on ARM. The
                       Sculpt OS 64-bit ARM focus so far is on the NXP
                       i.MX8 EVK development board.


                # ⚓ OpenClinic_GA:_500+_worldwide_hospital_Implementation_with
                  ~500_weekly_downloads⠀⇛


                       OpenClinic GA is an open-source hospital
                       information management system (HIMS) which covers
                       all aspects of running small and medium-sized
                       hospitals.


                       The project started back 2010 as a hospital
                       information system by a group of developers,
                       doctors and experienced hospital managers.


                       It’s built as a cross-platform, self-hosted and on-
                       premise system for low-resources hospitals.


                       For weeks OpenClinic GA is getting hundreds of
                       download hits at Sourceforge.net. This week it gets
                       ~700 downloads so far. Unfortunately, there is no
                       easy way to measure the community and how many
                       users does it have.


                       The web user interface for OpenClinic GA is working
                       seamlessly on all popular web browsers like Google
                       Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera. However, the
                       user-interface certainly require more work to fit
                       for smaller screens and resolutions.


                # § Web Browsers⠀➾


                      # § Mozilla⠀➾


                            # ⚓ Auditing_the_CRLs_in_CRLite_•
                              Insufficient.Coffee⠀⇛


                                   Since Firefox Nightly is now using
                                   CRLite to determine if enrolled
                                   websites’ certificates are revoked,
                                   it’s useful to dig into the data to
                                   answer why a given certificate issuer
                                   gets enrolled or not.


                                   Ultimately this is a matter of whether
                                   the CRLs for a given issuer are
                                   available to CRLite, and are valid, but
                                   the Internet is a messy place, and
                                   sometimes things don’t work as planned.
                                   If an issuing CA is not enrolled in
                                   CRLite, the Mozilla infrastructure
                                   emits enough information to figure out
                                   what went wrong.


                # § Productivity Software/LibreOffice/Calligra⠀➾


                      # ⚓ OpenOffice_Still_Gets_+1.5_Million_Downloads_Per
                        Month,_Despite_Being_Discontinued⠀⇛


                             OpenOffice started as the open source version
                             of “StarOffice” by Sun Microsystems in 1999.
                             It continued to be a the mainstream Microsoft
                             Office alternative through the 2000s and kept
                             improving over time, until a community fork
                             happened in 2011 after Oracle acquired Sun.
                             The community feared that Oracle would shut
                             down the project due to its past dark history
                             against open source software and didn’t want
                             to participate in a project under its
                             control. Hence, LibreOffice was born in 2011
                             and most community members started working on
                             LibreOffice instead of OpenOffice.


                             Oracle found itself in a tough spot since
                             most of the community migrated to the new
                             fork, and hence decided to contribute the
                             ownership of OpenOffice in the same year to
                             the Apache Foundation. The Apache Foundation
                             from its side continued the development a
                             little bit for a while (Until 2016-2017) but
                             then, OpenOffice stopped reciving any major
                             updates.


                             The latest available version of OpenOffice
                             right now is 4.1.8, which was released this
                             month, but is nothing more than a bug-fixing
                             release with no new features. Versions 4.1.7
                             and 4.1.6 were released in 2019 and 2018
                             respectively, and they also contained nothing
                             more than few fixes (5-10) for some bugs.
                             OpenOffice didn’t receive any major update
                             since 2014, so this should give you a picture
                             on how slow and discontinued the development
                             is on the project.


                # § Programming/Development⠀➾


                      # ⚓ Announcing_Rustup_1.23.0_|_Rust_Blog⠀⇛


                             The rustup working group is happy to announce
                             the release of rustup version 1.23.0. Rustup
                             is the recommended tool to install Rust, a
                             programming language that is empowering
                             everyone to build reliable and efficient
                             software.


                             [...]


                             The Rust team releases a new version every
                             six weeks, bringing new features and bugfixes
                             on a regular basis. Sometimes a regression
                             slips into a stable release, and the team
                             releases a “point release” containing fixes
                             for that regression. For example, 1.45.1 and
                             1.45.2 were point releases of Rust 1.45.0,
                             while 1.46.0 and 1.47.0 both had no point
                             releases.


                             With rustup 1.22.1 or earlier if you wanted
                             to use a stable release you were able to
                             either install stable (which automatically
                             updates to the latest one) or a specific
                             version number, such as 1.48.0, 1.45.0 or
                             1.45.2. Starting from this release of rustup
                             (1.23.0) you can also install a minor version
                             without specifying the patch version, like
                             1.48 or 1.45. These “virtual” releases will
                             always point to the latest patch release of
                             that cycle, so rustup toolchain install 1.45
                             will get you a 1.45.2 toolchain.


                      # ⚓ Book_club:_Rust_after_the_honeymoon⠀⇛


                             One of the first areas we discussed was data
                             bearing enums – these have been very
                             important to Bryan. In keeping with a pattern
                             we all noted these take a construct that’s
                             relatively commonly implemented by hand in C
                             (or skipped as too much effort, as Lars
                             found) and provides direct support in the
                             language for it. For both Daniel and Lars
                             this has been key to their enjoyment of Rust,
                             it makes things that are good practice or
                             common idioms in C and C++ into first class
                             language features which makes them more
                             robust and allows them to fade into the
                             background in a way they can’t when done by
                             hand.


                             [...]
                             This distracted us a bit from the actual
                             content of the article and we had an
                             interesting discussion of the issues with
                             handling OS differences in filenames
                             portably. Rather than mapping filenames onto
                             a standard type within the language and then
                             have to map back out into whatever
                             representation the system actually uses Rust
                             has an explicit type for filenames which must
                             be explicitly converted on those occasions
                             when it’s required, meaning that a lot of
                             file handling never needs to worry about
                             anything except the OS native format and
                             doesn’t run into surprises. This is in
                             keeping with Rust’s general approach to
                             interfacing with things that can’t be
                             represented in its abstractions, rather than
                             hide things it keeps track of where things
                             that might break the assumptions it makes are
                             and requires the programmer to acknowledge
                             and handle them explicitly. Both Lars and
                             Daniel said that this made them feel a lot
                             more confident in the code that they were
                             writing and that they had a good handle on
                             where complexity might lie, Lars noted that
                             Rust is the first languages he’s felt
                             comfortable writing multi threaded code in.


                      # ⚓ Top_4_Most_Popular_Programming_Languages_in_November
                        2020⠀⇛


                             When starting out in the programming world,
                             beginners often face the dilemma of choosing
                             which programming language to learn first.
                             Questions like, ‘What are the most popular
                             programming languages,’ ‘Will the chosen
                             language have any relevance in the future,’
                             ‘Where to learn to code,’ ‘Learning which
                             language will provide more benefits
                             professionally”, continue to rattle the
                             minds. At the same time, while we worry about
                             lagging in the fast-paced technological
                             world, new programming languages (Elm, Rust,
                             Kotlin, Elixir, Crystal, etc.) emerge, poised
                             to overtake an older one. Furthermore,
                             learning to code these languages is important
                             as they provide programmers a crucial medium
                             of connecting humans to computers. Since
                             computers cannot comprehend the languages of
                             the common man, these programmed commands can
                             be used to control the behavior and output of
                             a machine through accurate algorithms. Hence,
                             helping us harness the power of computing in
                             all human endeavors and projects.


                      # ⚓ 2D_Array_–_Linux_Hint⠀⇛


                             A Two-dimensional (2D) array is an array of
                             one dimensional (1D) arrays. The 1D array
                             sizes are equal. The 2D array is also called
                             a matrix with rows and columns.


                      # § Python⠀➾


                            # ⚓ Python_Ternary_Operator_–_Linux_Hint⠀⇛


                                   Ternary operators are Python built-in
                                   conditional operators that are used to
                                   evaluate the defined conditions. It
                                   evaluates the condition for being true
                                   or false. Like the if-else statement,
                                   it is another way of defining
                                   conditional statements. The ternary
                                   operator is defined in the single line.
                                   The if-else statement and ternary
                                   operator returns a similar output. The
                                   ternary operator was introduced in
                                   Python version 2.5. This article
                                   explains the Python ternary operator in
                                   detail with examples.


                            # ⚓ Python_zfill()_Function_–_Linux_Hint⠀⇛


                                   Owing to the versatility and
                                   availability of vast built-in modules,
                                   functions, and statements, Python is
                                   now a widely-used general-purpose
                                   programming language. The Python built-
                                   in features help programmers to perform
                                   complicated tasks very simply and
                                   efficiently. The zfill() is a Python
                                   built-in function that zeros on the
                                   left of the string to fill the
                                   specified width and return the string’s
                                   copy. It makes a padded string by
                                   adding zeros. This article demonstrates
                                   the use of the Python zfill() function.


    * § Leftovers⠀➾


          o ⚓ New_technological_behaviours_will_outlast_the_pandemic⠀⇛


                 Call it tech-celeration. In all these cases, and in many
                 others, the pandemic has accelerated existing trends of
                 technological adoption. Shopping was steadily moving
                 online; payments were slowly going digital; online
                 learning was slowly becoming more prevalent; more people
                 were working from home, at least some of the time. Now
                 people in many countries have been abruptly propelled
                 into a future where all of these behaviours are far more
                 widespread.


          o ⚓ Diego_Maradona_(1960-2020):_Some_Bittersweet_Reflections⠀⇛


          o § Health/Nutrition⠀➾


                # ⚓ Opinion:_WTO_should_waive_TRIPS_provisions_during_COVID-
                  19⠀⇛


                       The WTO should adopt India and South Africa’s
                       proposal to lift IP restrictions to ensure access
                       to COVID vaccines and therapies


                # ⚓ Largest_Retail_Association_Is_Lobbying_to_Get_Stores_Open
                  as_Pandemic_Worsens⠀⇛


                # ⚓ Advocates_Push_for_Washington_State_to_Allow_Magic
                  Mushrooms_for_Dying_Patients⠀⇛


                # ⚓ China_tests_millions_after_coronavirus_flareups_in_3
                  cities⠀⇛


                       Chinese authorities are testing millions of people,
                       imposing lockdowns and shutting down schools after
                       multiple locally transmitted coronavirus cases were
                       discovered in three cities across the country last
                       week.


                       As temperatures drop, widescale measures are being
                       enacted in Tianjin, Shanghai and Manzhouli, even
                       though the number of new cases remains low compared
                       to the United States and other countries that are
                       seeing new waves of infections.


                       Experts and government officials have warned that
                       the chance of the virus spreading will be greater
                       in cold weather. Recent flareups have shown that
                       there is still a risk of the virus returning,
                       despite being largely controlled within China.


          o § Integrity/Availability⠀➾


                # § Proprietary⠀➾


                      # § Security⠀➾


                            # § Privacy/Surveillance⠀➾


                                  # ⚓ UK_expected_to_bring_forward_Huawei_ban
                                    to_September_2021⠀⇛


                                         The UK will announce on Monday
                                         that it is bringing forward to
                                         September 2021 the date for
                                         banning the use of 5G equipment
                                         from Chinese telecommunications
                                         equipment vendor Huawei
                                         Technologies, a report claims.


                                  # ⚓ China_ties:_time_for_some_quiet
                                    diplomacy,_or_businesses_will_suffer⠀⇛


                                         Naive. That is the word that
                                         comes to mind when one reads the
                                         musings of Australian journalists
                                         reacting to China’s move to
                                         impose additional tariffs on
                                         Australian wine, just the latest
                                         reaction from Beijing to show
                                         Canberra that it can hurt the
                                         country’s economy if it so
                                         wishes.


                                  # ⚓ China_Runs_Trials_pf_Biometric_Online_ID
                                    Card_in_Two_Provinces⠀⇛


                                         The Ministry of Public Security
                                         is trialing an online ID card in
                                         the southeastern province of
                                         Fujian and the southern province
                                         of Guangdong, prior to rolling it
                                         out nationwide, sources said.


                                         China has long required its
                                         [Internet] users to register for
                                         online accounts using their real
                                         names, backed up by a smart
                                         national ID card.


                                         However, applicants for the new
                                         online card will be required to
                                         supply biodata including facial
                                         scans and a fingerprint to police
                                         before they can access certain
                                         online services, according to
                                         recent state media reports.


                                  # ⚓ EU_promises_new_guidelines_against
                                    foreign_spying_in_universities_and_labs_|
                                    Science|Business⠀⇛


                                         The European Commission on
                                         Wednesday promised to publish new
                                         guidelines in 2021 on foreign
                                         interference targeting EU
                                         universities and higher education
                                         institutions, as part of a
                                         broader strategy to strengthen
                                         and simplify patent protection,
                                         while preventing foreign
                                         countries from wrongfully
                                         acquiring European research and
                                         innovation assets.


                                         The commission says it will
                                         “stand ready” to use “restrictive
                                         measures” to counter private and
                                         government-sponsored cyber
                                         espionage “aimed at acquiring
                                         cutting-edge European IP assets”.


                                         In March, the EU officials felt
                                         the need to step in and scupper
                                         an alleged attempt by US
                                         President Donald Trump to gain
                                         access to COVID-19 vaccine
                                         knowledge held by German biotech
                                         firm CureVac.


                                         The commission also calls out the
                                         insufficient IP protection for EU
                                         firms operating abroad, and
                                         pledges to in place, “new
                                         framework conditions for
                                         international research
                                         cooperation in non-EU countries”.


                                         “Our businesses still face great
                                         challenges when operating in non-
                                         EU countries, including weak IP
                                         rules and enforcement, forced
                                         technology transfer and other
                                         unfair practices such as
                                         limitations in IP ownership,” the
                                         commission document says.


          o § Defence/Aggression⠀➾


                # ⚓ Will_the_World_Community_Condemn_the_Murder_of_Iran’s
                  Nuclear_Scientist?⠀⇛


                       ‘US and Israeli efforts to sabotage Iran’s nuclear
                       program “have now morphed into Trump & Netanyahu
                       sabotaging the next US President’


                # ⚓ Israel’s_Gift_to_Joe_Biden,_52_Days_Before_He_Even_Takes
                  Office:_War_with_Iran⠀⇛


                       By killing Fakhrizadeh, Israel is doing its best to
                       ensure that, for Biden, that military action is the
                       only viable option available


                # ⚓ The_hunt_for_jihadists_in_Africa’s_Sahel_region⠀⇛


                       For this report, FRANCE 24′s team embedded with
                       Niger’s special forces. In this epicentre of West
                       African jihadism, local “franchises” of the Islamic
                       State group and al Qaeda are competing to establish
                       a vast “caliphate” across the Sahel region. Local
                       villagers are caught in the crossfire, afraid that
                       jihadists may infiltrate the population and living
                       in fear of reprisals. Some 4,000 civilians died in
                       this zone in 2019 alone. Niger’s government has
                       twin aims: to keep people safe and to recover
                       territory, in order to prevent the “caliphate”
                       rising from its ashes on the African continent.


                # ⚓ Boko_Haram_Kills_at_Least_43_Farmworkers_in_Nigeria,
                  Militia_Says⠀⇛


                       Boko Haram fighters killed at least 43 farmworkers
                       and injured six in rice fields near the northeast
                       Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Saturday, anti-
                       jihadist militia told AFP.


          o § AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics⠀➾


                # ⚓ The_Revolving_Door:_Biden’s_National_Security_Nominees_Want
                  Back_In_After_Cashing_Out_Of_Government_Service⠀⇛


                       Top Biden advisers Tony Blinken, Michele Flournoy,
                       and Lloyd Austin face new scrutiny.


                # ⚓ “Better_Than_Trump”_Is_Not_Enough._We_Need_More_From_Biden
                  on_LGBTQ_Policy.⠀⇛


                # ⚓ Trump’s_Damage_to_US_Elections_Could_Be_Long-Term⠀⇛


                       We should be extremely concerned about the damage
                       the refusal to concede inflicts on democratic
                       culture.


                # ⚓ The_Annual_White_House_Festival_of_Death⠀⇛


                       Pardon me? This is all a precursor to what is
                       expected to be the most outrageous and brazen
                       presidential pardon in American history — Mr.
                       Trump’s pardoning of himself of all federal crimes


                # ⚓ Creating_American_Carnage⠀⇛


                # ⚓ Pompeo_Embraced_Israeli_Settlements,_But_Democrats_Also
                  Paved_the_Way_for_It⠀⇛


                # ⚓ Court_Rejects_Trump’s_Attempt_to_Overturn_Certification_of
                  Pennsylvania_Results⠀⇛


                # ⚓ Shoving_Donald_Trump_Out_the_Oval_Office_Door⠀⇛


                       Now is the time for all good Americans — and
                       coyotes — to come to the aid of our country.


                # ⚓ Biden_Needs_To_Report_Trump’s_Wreckage_in_Executive_Branch
                  as_Markers⠀⇛


                       They must not let the Trumpster outlaws escape and
                       become immune fugitives from justice


                # ⚓ India’s_Farmers_Come_out_in_Force_Against_Modi⠀⇛


                       The government has claimed that its new laws will
                       streamline farming in India and will transform the
                       agriculture sector through increased private
                       investment. Many activists, though, believe that
                       measures will help a few corporations while leading
                       to unemployment and growing debt for smaller scale
                       farmers. Farmers also believe that many could lose
                       land if they are forced to sell their property to
                       corporates, which will directly deal with
                       production and marketing of goods.


                # ⚓ The_Rotting_of_the_Republican_Mind⠀⇛


                       Many people point to the [Internet] — the way it
                       funnels people into information silos, the way it
                       abets the spread of misinformation. I mostly reject
                       this view. Why would the [Internet] have corrupted
                       Republicans so much more than Democrats, the global
                       right more than the global left?


                       My analysis begins with a remarkable essay that
                       Jonathan Rauch wrote for National Affairs in 2018
                       called “The Constitution of Knowledge.” Rauch
                       pointed out that every society has an epistemic
                       regime, a marketplace of ideas where people
                       collectively hammer out what’s real. In democratic,
                       nontheocratic societies, this regime is a
                       decentralized ecosystem of academics, clergy
                       members, teachers, journalists and others who
                       disagree about a lot but agree on a shared system
                       of rules for weighing evidence and building
                       knowledge.


                # ⚓ China_Looks_Set_to_Prosecute_Hong_Kong_12_For_‘Illegal
                  Border_Crossings’⠀⇛


                       The move comes after the Shenzhen authorities
                       issued a ban on lawyers appointed by the families
                       of the 12 activists detained by the China Coast
                       Guard on Aug. 23, and repeatedly prevented them
                       from meeting with defense attorneys appointed by
                       their families.


                       Five law firms said they had received verbal orders
                       from the Yantian district bureau of judicial
                       affairs to stop acting for the families of the 12
                       detainees, with officials saying that the orders
                       came from the ministry of justice in Beijing.


                       The detainees are aged 16 to 33 and were trying to
                       flee to Taiwan by speedboat after being charged
                       with crimes linked to months of mass popular
                       protest that rocked Hong Kong last year.


                       Any lawyer hired to act on behalf of the 12
                       activists has been ordered to stop doing so, often
                       by repeated phone calls from judicial bureau
                       officials to their personal number, according to
                       multiple sources.


          o § Censorship/Free Speech⠀➾


                # ⚓ Gender_Activists_Are_Trying_to_Cancel_My_Book._Why_is
                  Silicon_Valley_Helping_Them?⠀⇛


                       This is, more or less, most people’s reaction to
                       the efforts to suppress my book. It isn’t that they
                       agree with censorship per se. But you also can’t go
                       setting fires without expecting Big Tech’s cops to
                       shut them down. “If you’re going to talk about the
                       trans thing, I mean, what did you expect?” I think
                       the agent may have said those very words.


                       Except that I didn’t write about “the trans thing.”
                       I wrote specifically about the sudden, severe spike
                       in transgender identification among adolescent
                       girls. I fully support medical transition for
                       mature adults. And I have no desire to be a
                       provocateur. (I dislike pointless provocation, in
                       part because I think provocateurs often have a good
                       argument—one they’re too lazy or inept to make).
                       Nor do I have any prurient interest in others’
                       social lives.


                       What I aim to do, as a journalist, is to
                       investigate cultural phenomena, and here was one
                       worth investigating: Between 2016 and 2017, the
                       number of females seeking gender surgery quadrupled
                       in the United States. Thousands of teen girls
                       across the Western world are not only self-
                       diagnosing with a real dysphoric condition they
                       likely do not have; in many cases, they are
                       obtaining hormones and surgeries following the most
                       cursory diagnostic processes. Schoolteachers,
                       therapists, doctors, surgeons, and medical-
                       accreditation organizations are all rubber-stamping
                       these transitions, often out of fear that doing
                       otherwise will be reported as a sign of
                       “transphobia”—despite growing evidence that most
                       young people who present as trans will eventually
                       desist, and so these interventions will do more
                       harm than good.


          o § Freedom of Information/Freedom of the Press⠀➾


                # ⚓ French_Protesters,_Police_Clash_Over_New_Security
                  Legislation⠀⇛


                       In a sign that the government could be preparing to
                       backtrack, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced
                       Friday that he would appoint a commission to
                       redraft Article 24.


                # ⚓ The_State_You_May_Not_Criticise⠀⇛


                       In the 15 year history of this blog, I have
                       criticised the Human Rights records of states
                       including Bahrain, Belarus, Brazil, Burma,
                       Cameroon, China, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany,
                       Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Ivory Coast,
                       Kazakhstan, Kenya, Libya, the Maldives, the
                       Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Russia,
                       Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden, Syria,
                       Tajikistan, Thailand, Togo, Turkey, Uganda, the
                       United Kingdom, the United States, Uzbekistan,
                       Venezuela and Zimbabwe.


                # ⚓ French_lawmakers_pass_controversial_bill_that_restricts_the
                  publication_of_images_of_police⠀⇛


                       French lawmakers passed a bill on Tuesday that
                       critics say could make it harder for journalists
                       and human rights advocates to hold police
                       accountable.


                       The Global Security Bill’s most controversial
                       section — Article 24 — which was approved by
                       lawmakers on Friday, forbids the publication of
                       images that allow the identification of a law
                       enforcement officer “with the intent to cause them
                       harm, physically or mentally.”


                       The bill — which has been the subject of much
                       criticism and several protests — was amended by the
                       government, lawmakers say, to ensure the freedom of
                       the press.


                       Now that the bill has been passed by the National
                       Assembly, it will head to the Senate in December.


                # ⚓ Protests_over_security_law_as_France_reels_from_police
                  violence⠀⇛


                       One of the most controversial elements of the new
                       law is Article 24, which would criminalise the
                       publication of images of on-duty police officers
                       with the intent of harming their “physical or
                       psychological integrity”.


                       It was passed by the National Assembly last week —
                       although it is awaiting Senate approval — provoking
                       rallies and protests across France.


                       Rally organisers are calling for the article to be
                       withdrawn, claiming that it contradicts “the
                       fundamental public freedoms of our Republic”.


                       “This bill aims to undermine the freedom of the
                       press, the freedom to inform and be informed, the
                       freedom of expression,” one of Saturday’s protest
                       organisers said.


                       Trade unions are expected to join the
                       demonstrations, with members of the yellow vests —
                       whose sometimes violent protests in 2018 and 2019
                       shook the country — also expected.


                # ⚓ WikiLeaks_‘Cablegate’_10_years_on:_An_unvarnished_look_at
                  US_foreign_policy⠀⇛


                       November 28, 2010, was the day the bomb dropped —
                       with five leading Western publications initiating
                       the simultaneous publication of secrets from the
                       engine room of American diplomacy. Their raw
                       material: 251,287 documents from the superpower’s
                       State Department, most of them top secret and
                       confidential, gathered by American embassies around
                       the world. Together, they gave a less than pretty
                       picture of US foreign policy.


                       The embassy cables had been made available to the
                       publications by the whistle-blowing website
                       WikiLeaks. Never before had journalists been able
                       to access such a large cache of secrets at once.
                       Among other things, they proved that Washington had
                       instructed its diplomats to spy on people working
                       at the United Nations, up to and including the UN
                       secretary-general. The cables also revealed that
                       Arab states had called for airstrikes on Iranian
                       nuclear installations, that Beijing was losing
                       patience with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il,
                       and included many unflattering assessments of
                       leading politicians in the American diplomats’ host
                       countries.


          o § Civil Rights/Policing⠀➾


                # ⚓ A_Global_Police_State_Is_Emerging_as_World_Capitalism
                  Descends_Into_Crisis⠀⇛


                # ⚓ Ahmadinejad_Makes_Controversial_Remarks_About_Iran’s_Hijab
                  Law⠀⇛


                       During his presidency, Ahmadinejad enjoyed the
                       support of extremist groups of fundamentalists and
                       clerics, such as Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi. Nasiri was
                       also a student of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah
                       Khamenei, and the editor-in-chief of an extremist
                       weekly, Sobh (Morning).


                       Responding to Ahmadinejad’s unprecedented remarks
                       about the hijab, Nasiri reminded him of the
                       comments made by the supporters of the law,
                       referring to Khamenei’s speech he made when
                       responding to the widespread protests against
                       compulsory hijab in March 2018. At the time,
                       Khamenei defended the mandatory Islamic dress code
                       and argued that it prevented “sexual harassment,”
                       and categorically dismissed the argument that
                       everyone should be free to choose their clothing
                       and maintained that such reasoning could apply to
                       all other “social sins.”


                # ⚓ Kentucky_cop_slugs_man_livestreaming_an_arrest_with_‘solid
                  left_hook’⠀⇛


                       Bennett can be heard on his Facebook livestream
                       saying he was, “Doing his due diligence as a
                       citizen” by documenting the arrest and, “This might
                       be the most boring live video ever.”


                       That is, until three minutes later when the cops
                       realize they’re being filmed.


                       Two officers approached Bennett. When one of the
                       men asked to see his ID. Bennett refuses and asks
                       why to which the officer replies: “You’re filming a
                       crime scene investigation… and you’re involved.”


                       After Bennett again refused to produce ID the the
                       officer grabs for the phone and hits Bennett. The
                       livestream ends shortly after that.


                       Bennett was issued a citation for menacing and
                       resisting arrest which described the hit as an
                       “Empty strike” – a claim Bennett refutes, saying he
                       was hit with a “solid left hook” and had to be
                       checked out by EMTs on the scene and a doctor a day
                       later.


          o § Monopolies⠀➾


                # ⚓ Impact_of_TPP_on_International,_Regional_and_other
                  Plurilateral_IP_Norm_Setting⠀⇛


                       In the wake of recent signing of the U.S. led
                       Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) between
                       twelve Pacific-Rim countries on 4 February 2016,
                       need has arisen for analysing the impact of
                       plurilateral intellectual property (IP)
                       negotiations like TPP and Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
                       Agreement (ACTA) as opposed to that of the
                       multilateral IP negotiations at forums like World
                       Trade Organization (WTO) and World Intellectual
                       Property Organization (WIPO). The paper describes
                       the meaning of multilateral and plurilateral
                       agreements and the reasons for the shift from
                       former to the latter. It then analyses the
                       negatives and positives of plurilateral agreements.
                       Further, it provides a critical comparative
                       analysis of some of the patent law provisions of
                       the TPP and Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of
                       Intellectual Property (TRIPS) to illustrate how the
                       plurilateral IP agreements may take away the
                       flexibilities that TRIPS allows to its members
                       considering the different stages of development
                       they are in and thereby adversely impact public
                       interest. Lastly, the paper analyses the impact of
                       the plurilateral negotiations, especially that of
                       TPP, on multilateral, regional as well as other
                       plurilateral IP-norm setting.


                # § Patents⠀➾


                      # ⚓ EU_pharma_strategy_has_patients_and_collaboration_at
                        its_heart [Ed: Patent extremists portray patents as
                        "collaboration" -- the very opposite of what these
                        are]⠀⇛


                             Plans to cut the time it takes to gain
                             regulatory approval for medicines and medical
                             devices, and drive the development of new
                             antibiotics and other products for treating
                             rare diseases, have been outlined in a wide-
                             ranging new pharmaceutical strategy for
                             Europe.


                      # ⚓ EC_sets_out_a_pharmaceutical_strategy_for_Europe [Ed:
                        Another typical 'Big Pharma' propaganda in 'article'
                        clothing]⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ MSF_welcomes_EU_pharmaceutical_strategy_but
                        challenges_key_intellectual_property_issue_–_Express
                        Pharma⠀⇛


                             MSF’s Access Campaign welcomes the European
                             Commission’s (EC) pharmaceutical strategy for
                             Europe and its objective on improving access
                             to affordable medicines and medical tools
                             through increased transparency and a review
                             of its intellectual property (IP) incentives
                             framework, yet this objective risks being
                             hollow because of the Commission’s proposal
                             for a simplified (unitary) Supplementary
                             Protection Certificate (SPC) system in
                             Europe.


                      # ⚓ Compulsory_licensing_is_not_an_effective_policy_tool,
                        warns_EU_biopharma_group_as_it_reacts_to_European_IP
                        action_plan⠀⇛


                             The European Federation of Pharmaceutical
                             Industries and Associations (EFPIA) gave a
                             cautious welcome to the EU action plan on
                             intellectual property (IP), published
                             yesterday, expressing alarm, though, over
                             proposals within it on compulsory licensing.
                             The group praised the EU Commission’s
                             commitment to launch a unified supplementary
                             protection certificate (SPC) grant mechanism
                             and/or to create a unitary SPC title; it said
                             this move will bring more certainty,
                             predictability and cost-effectiveness to
                             everyone involved in the discovery,
                             development and use of medicines in Europe.


                      # ⚓ Unified_Patent_Court:_Poison_pill_for_future_of_EU
                        integration [Ed: Bill Gates-funded propaganda site is
                        spreading lies for the monopolists who push the
                        UNCONSTITUTIONAL UPC ahead of the German vote]⠀⇛


                             If the UPCA system is put in place, there
                             will be in practice no possibility for the EU
                             legislator (European Parliament in
                             particular) to define the substantive patent
                             rules regarding Unitary patents and European
                             patents (for instance favouring green
                             innovations, adapting patent rules for
                             software or medicines).


                      # ⚓ The_EU_has_the_chance_to_seize_global_patent
                        leadership [Ed: IAM spreading the UPC propaganda EPO
                        paid it to spread. UPC isn’t good for Europe, it’s for
                        patent trolls and monopolies from outside Europe]⠀⇛


                             Developments this week in Brussels and
                             Germany mean that the European Union now has
                             the chance to put itself at the very top of
                             the global patent decision-making tree


                             Working weeks do not get much bigger for
                             patents in Europe than the one that has just
                             finished.


                             Wednesday not only saw the publication of the
                             European Commission’s long-awaited IP Action
                             Plan, but also the decision by the Dusseldorf
                             Regional Court to refer a series of SEP and
                             FRAND-related questions to the Court of
                             Justice of the European Union.


                             Then the next day, Germany’s Bundestag voted
                             overwhelmingly to approve the country’s
                             ratification of the Unified Patent Court
                             agreement, so bringing a pan-EU litigation
                             and unitary patent system, that many had
                             considered dead, back to life.


                      # ⚓ Recent_amendments_to_the_SPC_Regulation [Ed: More of
                        IAM, pushing for 'Big Pharma' monopolies (not that
                        pertinent nations outside the EU are any better); they
                        buy whatever laws they want…]⠀⇛


                             In the life sciences industry, patent
                             protection for innovative medicinal products
                             is pivotal to the commercial success of new
                             drug products. Before commercially exploiting
                             such an invention, the patentee must obtain a
                             regulatory marketing authorisation for the
                             medicinal product from a competent health
                             authority, such as the European Medicines
                             Agency, which may take several years.


                      # ⚓ China_and_U.S._Rank_Even_in_Wireless_Communication
                        Patent_Applications_Worldwide_Through_October_2020⠀⇛


                             According to a study released November 19,
                             2020 by Incopat, China and the U.S. are
                             running even on worldwide wireless
                             communication patent application publications
                             from January to October 2020. Specifically,
                             in the field of H04W (wireless communication
                             networks), which includes 5G, China and the
                             U.S. both have 32% of the worldwide published
                             patent applications. Japan comes in third
                             with 15%. The top Chinese filer was Huawei
                             with 8,607 published patent applications and
                             the top U.S. filer was Qualcomm with 5,807
                             published patent applications.


                      # ⚓ Land_Rover’s_Long-Lasting_Patent_Dispute_with_VW
                        Group_Turns_Ugly⠀⇛


                             Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is suing Volkswagen
                             Group to stop it from selling its high-end
                             SUVs from VW, Audi, and Porsche in the U.S.
                             market because they use an off-road mode
                             similar to Land Rover’s.JLR says the off-road
                             mode, first seen on a VW product in the
                             Bentley Bentayga, infringes on the Land Rover
                             Terrain Response system patent.The most
                             recent set of lawsuits was filed on November
                             19 and targets the Audi A6 Allroad, Q5, Q7,
                             and Q8; the Lamborghini Urus; and the Porsche
                             Cayenne and Volkswagen Tiguan, as Bloomberg
                             News first reported.Jaguar Land Rover has
                             filed a set of lawsuits demanding that its
                             rival, the Volkswagen Group, be forbidden to
                             sell new VW, Audi, and Porsche SUVs in the
                             United States. That’s a huge ask, but it
                             started very small: with the chrome dial on
                             the Bentley Bentayga’s center console, the
                             one encircled by cactuses and snowflakes.It
                             was a quiet spat until last week, when JLR in
                             one day launched four U.S. lawsuits in two
                             states and an unfair trade complaint against
                             the entire VW Group. JLR, after years of
                             unsuccessful negotiations with one of its
                             largest competitors, now wants the U.S. to
                             ban the importation of nearly every new VW,
                             Audi, and Porsche with an off-road mode.


                      # ⚓ No,_the_government_cannot_seize,_break_or_‘bypass’
                        pharmaceutical_patents_—_even_for_COVID-19 [Ed: The
                        Hill still platform for patent maximalists looking to
                        make a killing from COVID-19 using patents and
                        monopolies]⠀⇛


                      # ⚓ The_Effect_of_New_Information_on_Patent_Litigation:
                        Evidence_from_U.S._Inter_Partes_Review⠀⇛


                             We analyze the effect of new information on
                             the subsequent behavior of litigants in
                             patent cases. A party accused of patent
                             infringement in the U.S. may – in parallel
                             with defending itself in court – additionally
                             challenge the validity of the allegedly
                             infringed patent by petitioning the Patent
                             Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), an
                             administrative tribunal within the U.S.
                             Patent and Trademark Office. PTAB validity
                             challenges generate new information at
                             several points in time, and this new
                             information can directly affect the district
                             court case. We study this effect empirically,
                             with a focus on settlement. Using data on
                             U.S. district court cases and PTAB validity
                             challenges initiated between 2012 and 2016,
                             we examine each of the three main events that
                             comprise a PTAB proceeding: (i) the filing of
                             a petition to challenge a patent’s validity,
                             (ii) PTAB’s decision to grant or deny the
                             petition based on its assessment of a
                             “reasonable likelihood” of invalidity, and
                             (iii) PTAB’s final determination of the
                             patent’s validity. We find that all three
                             decision points have large effects on the
                             settlement of parallel court proceedings.
                             While the filing of a petition increases the
                             likelihood of settlement, we find to the
                             contrary that PTAB’s preliminary assessment
                             of validity reduces the odds of settlement.
                             Moreover, we find that the effect of the
                             PTAB’s final decision depends on whether the
                             patent is determined to be valid or
                             (partially) invalid.


                      # ⚓ Call_for_industry_views_on_AI_and_IP_and_ViCo⠀⇛


                             In the last 3 years, several intellectual
                             property offices have invited the global IP
                             community to express our views on what we
                             need from them and from legislators. The EPO
                             has been very open – consulting on its
                             quality and efficiency initiatives (via
                             SACEPO), an idea for flexible timing of
                             examination, its strategic plan, its
                             Guidelines for Examination, and the Rules of
                             Procedure of its Boards of Appeal. All of
                             WIPO, USPTO, EPO and the UKIPO have been
                             consulting on artificial intelligence and IP.


                             This is excellent and AA Thornton attorneys
                             have enjoyed the debates – including learning
                             from industry experts about your requirements
                             from the global patent system that exists to
                             serve you.
                             For those industry experts who have not yet
                             joined the debate on AI and IP, we call upon
                             you to express your views – let’s tell the IP
                             offices what you need. Some of the
                             consultations will close very soon.


                      # § Software Patents⠀➾


                            # ⚓ António_Campinos:_AI-inventor_dilemma_will_take
                              ‘years’_to_solve⠀⇛


                                   EPO president discusses AI inventorship
                                   rules and video hearings, and explains
                                   why staff will eventually return to the
                                   office


                            # ⚓ Swiss_Federal_Supreme_Court_confirms_when_the
                              Display_of_Information_is_a_Technical_Feature
                              that_can_Provide_an_Inventive_Step⠀⇛


                                   Is an animated lung on a display of a
                                   ventilator machine merely an
                                   unpatentable display of information or
                                   is it a technical feature that can
                                   provide an inventive step? For the
                                   first time, the Swiss Federal Supreme
                                   Court spoke on the issue that such
                                   graphical user interfaces can be
                                   technical, and affirmed a Swiss Federal
                                   Patent Court’s decision (see BGer
                                   4A_609/2019, July 16, 2020 affirming
                                   BPatGer O2017_007 of November 1, 2019).
                                   The Courts‘ holdings are in line with
                                   the case law of the EPO’s Boards of
                                   Appeal and lay out the requirements
                                   that can render the display of
                                   information technical for purposes of
                                   the European Patent Convention (EPC).


                                   In this case going back to 2017, the
                                   Federal Patent Court prohibited
                                   imtmedical AG (IMT, in the meantime,
                                   has been acquired by Vyaire Medical)
                                   from trading certain ventilating
                                   machines because they infringed
                                   Hamilton Medical AG’s Swiss designation
                                   of the EP 1 984 805 B1 patent. IMT
                                   appealed to the Federal Supreme Court,
                                   claiming, among other things, that the
                                   patent concerns non-patentable subject
                                   matter under Art. 52 EPC, and that the
                                   graphical features were non-technical
                                   and could not contribute to an
                                   inventive step under Art. 56 EPC. The
                                   Federal Supreme Court dismissed the
                                   appeal and affirmed the Swiss Federal
                                   Patent Court’s decision.


                                   Hamilton’s patent concerns medical
                                   machines called ventilators that
                                   physically move breathable air into and
                                   out of a patient’s lung to deliver
                                   breaths when the patient is unable to
                                   breathe himself. Similar machines are
                                   frequently in the news now for COVID-19
                                   treatment. The patent is also about the
                                   machine’s display: it claims inter alia
                                   an animated lung that contracts and
                                   expands with every breath of the
                                   patient, and uses graphical elements to
                                   illustrate a number of relevant machine
                                   parameters in this single, graphical
                                   animation.


                            # ⚓ LinkedIn_Sued_For_Patent_Infringement⠀⇛


                                   On Friday in the District of Delaware,
                                   plaintiff eBuddy Technologies B.V.
                                   filed a complaint against LinkedIn
                                   Corporation for patent infringement
                                   alleging that LinkedIn infringed the
                                   patents-in-suit through its contact
                                   aggregation and event notifications.


                                   The patents-in-suit are United States
                                   Patent Nos. 8,510,395 (the ’395
                                   patent); 9,584,453 (the ’453 patent);
                                   8,230,135 (the ’135 patent); and
                                   8,402,179 (the ’179 patent). According
                                   to the complaint, the ’395 and ’453
                                   patents describe “contact aggregation
                                   between different messaging services”
                                   and the ’135 and ’179 patents describe
                                   “event notification.”


                                   The ’395 patent generally comprises an
                                   “arrangement of communications between
                                   networks of messaging service
                                   providers, including to login in or
                                   facilitate login to a network including
                                   to aggregate contacts into a contacts
                                   database that is a technical
                                   improvement to the communications
                                   between the devices and web services…”
                                   The plaintiff asserted that LinkedIn
                                   infringed this technology and method.


                # § Trademarks⠀➾


                      # ⚓ Never_Too_Late:_if_you_missed_The_IPKat_last_week⠀⇛


                             Former GuestKat Antonella Gentile reported on
                             the EUIPO’s recent Tertulia on Boards of
                             Appeal Case Law. The cases discussed during
                             the event (and analysed by Antonella in her
                             report) covered issues of trademarks
                             containing names of drugs and terms referring
                             to strains/variants of cannabis plants,
                             conceptual comparison when establishing the
                             likelihood of confusion, and substantial
                             aspects of online evidence.


                # § Copyrights⠀➾


                      # ⚓ MPA_Hits_MediaBox_HD_on_Github:_“Massive”_Movie_&_TV
                        Show_Piracy⠀⇛


                             Under the banner of the MPA, the major
                             Hollywood studios plus Netflix have filed a
                             complaint with Github resulting in the
                             removal of popular streaming app MediaBox HD.
                             The takedown is the latest in a series
                             setbacks for the Android-based movie and TV
                             show piracy app which was previously
                             mentioned in legal action unrelated to the
                             MPA.


                      # ⚓ Court_Orders_GoDaddy_to_Transfer_Piracy_Hack_Store
                        Domain_to_Nintendo⠀⇛


                             A federal court in Seattle has clarified that
                             all third party intermediaries must cut their
                             ties to a group of Nintendo ‘piracy hack’
                             stores. The order was prompted by GoDaddy’s
                             refusal to transfer the Stxwitch.com domain
                             to Nintendo. While the new order applies to
                             any “variant or successor” of the stores,
                             it’s not clearly defined what this actually
                             means.


                      # ⚓ Hollywood’s_Obituary,_the_Sequel._Now_Streaming.⠀⇛


                             Without appearing on big screens, are movies
                             even movies? Wrestling with that question
                             alone has pushed Hollywood into a full-blown
                             identity crisis. But the film industry is
                             simultaneously dealing with other challenges.
                             Outrage over the killing of George Floyd by a
                             police officer has forced the movie capital
                             to confront its contribution to racism and
                             inequity. Coronavirus-forced production
                             shutdowns have idled tens of thousands of
                             entertainment workers. The two biggest talent
                             agencies, Creative Artists and William Morris
                             Endeavor, have been hobbled by the shutdown,
                             resulting in a diaspora of agents, some of
                             whom are starting competing firms, a once-
                             unthinkable realignment.


                      # ⚓ Sunday_Surprises [Ed: Magdaleen Jooste advocating
                        maximalists' think tanks]⠀⇛


                             Fashion Law London is hosting an online event
                             on “Fashion Renaissance: A Unique Year in
                             Review” to reflect on recent changes, detect
                             trends, and anticipate what may lie ahead for
                             the fashion industries. This event takes
                             place on 10 December 2020. IPKat readers will
                             enjoy a discounted ticket for the event.


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