Summary: Assessment of patent systems based on litigation (or “enforcement”) still a misguided yardstick but a glorified theme in the news sites controlled by (and for) the patent ‘industry’

“BEWARE,” AntiSoftwarePat[ents] wrote the other day, “Patent Trolls pretending to be ‘Inventors’ https://www.cta.tech/Policy/Issues/Patent-Reform/Urge-Congress-to-Support-Patent-Reform.aspx … #FixPatents because #PatentsMatter pic.twitter.com/qcdWnTA8v0″

The death of software patents may be already upon us, but now we need to ensure that these patents don’t cross the Atlantic and spawn new patent trolls in Europe. They have already crossed the Pacific and are growingly an issue (even an epidemic) in east Asia. We wrote more about this over the weekend and last weekend; in fact, this has been a recurring theme^* here since about 2 months ago. It seems like a runaway issue as while it’s gradually dying out in the US the same symptoms can not been seen elsewhere and the EPO under Battistelli implements or emulates some of the worst aspects of the USPTO, including software patents in Europe.

Managing IP (MIP), in the face of strides against software patents in the US, sets up an event that seems to be promoting a case that helps patent trolls (Halo). To quote this new post about a so-called ‘webinar’ (usually dialogue/monologue with some programme): “Federal Circuit and district court rulings interpreting the Supreme Court’s Halo opinion on enhanced damages were analysed in a webinar presented by Managing IP and Fitzpatrick” (we can envision the content based on the presenters^**).

These “enhanced damages” would be mostly applicable to patent trolls (or serial patent tax collectors) and this decision will, without a doubt, embolden some of them to make them more demanding/aggressive in courts. They can broaden the number of victims and the ‘protection money’ extracted from each.

On to a similar topic, Florian Müller revisits FRAND — a subject he used to habitually cover back in his Android-hostile days. This time it’s about automotive companies, namely Daimler and Hyundai. To quote:

About four to five years ago, there was a time when “FRAND Patents” would have been a more suitable name for this blog than “FOSS Patents”: the pursuit of sales and important bans over standard-essential patents (in violation of pledges to license them to all comers on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms), royalty demands far out of the FRAND ballpark and exorbitant damages claims were the three most important symptoms of a huge underlying problem, and I did what I could to shed some light on what was going on and going wrong.

While I’m glad that some of the worst potential consequences were avoided at the time, I have realized that there is some unfinished business in that area. Antitrust settlements and court decisions were helpful. Some of them, such as Judge Posner’s 2012 Apple v. Motorola ruling, were really great. But attempts to abuse FRAND-pledged SEPs are still rampant. Various SEP owners are still seeking injunctions (not in all jurisdictions but definitely in some). Royalty demands and damages claims still appear to be out of line in too many cases.

These patents are problematic for many reasons, especially for Free/Open Source software. To see automotive companies joining this wave is troubling to say the least and now that automotive companies are also patenting the act of driving cars we find this new article which speaks of “Patents Driving Autonomous Car Technology”. To quote a portion: “Autonomous cars is a new Technological leap in the field of transportation. Imagine millions of cars, heavy duty vehicles, ships etc. being driven without drivers which will save a lot of human labor. Also, if such technology makes commuting safe and makes you reach your destination in time with 100% safety, it will save many innocent lives which are lost every year due to human carelessness or negligence while driving.”

There are already some patent trolls in this area, if not the dashboard level (e.g. navigation) then AI.

We continue to worry about patent trolls, about FRAND (or RAND, or SEPs) and of course about software patents, but at the core of these issues we have patent maximalism, or the belief that the more patents exist and are actively enforced against most entities, the better off society will be. See this new article (behind paywall) from IP Watch to witness a symptom of this disease. Called the “Online [Patent] Enforcement Index,” what we have here is “Konstantinos Alexiou [who] created the Index Of Patent Systems Strength, which ranks the effectiveness and efficiency of the patent systems of 49 countries.”

Are people serious about this? Is this what it boils down to? Ranking countries based on patent activity, as if the more means merrier? Totally misguided and dangerously so! █
______
^* Days ago IAM wrote about patent trolls which now operate in Korea, notably “Intellectual Discovery”. To quote somewhat of a background that’s appended to the article: “Intellectual Discovery, on the other hand, saw its CEO Kwang-Jun Kim quit last month amid what he claimed to be a budget crisis at the SPF. Quoted in a feature in the most recent issue of IAM, Kim suggested that Intellectual Discovery would become a fully privately held entity, and that hook-ups with other patent monetisation companies may well be on the cards. “Going private means we would have a little more freedom – we would be able to broaden our horizons, perhaps working with non-Korean operating companies and partnering with other NPEs, if those scenarios are consistent with our strategy and goals,” he told me. The DSS transaction seems to fit this picture pretty well; but it is likely to be one of the last deals to have been done largely on Kim’s watch. Whether the person who steps into his shoes continues along this course remains to be seen.”

^** MIP is very pro-plaintiff, as one might expect the messenger of patent law firms to be. Here is its new article about how “Philips and Masimo have ended their long-running dispute over blood oxygen measurement patents” and here is an update from the Eastern District of Texas, where “Medtronic has been ordered to pay $20.4m in damages by an Eastern District of Texas jury for infringing a doctor’s patents related to idiopathic scoliosis treatment” (guess who pockets a lot of this money other than the plaintiff).

Software development is NOT writing English sentences

Summary: Dealing with some of the hard (but soft, or invisible) issues in the US, where patents on abstract things are commonly misused for trolling/blackmail and abstract ideas have state tax associated with them

THE political landscape in the United States makes it increasingly unlikely that the patent system will be reformed in anyone’s favour, only in corporations’ favour (and corporations are not people). It is abundantly clear that the current proposals/bills on the table are unfit for purpose if the goal is really fixing the patent system. We already wrote over a dozen articles about this and today we present some of the latest finds.

“Patents threaten access to vital medicine” says a headline from South Africa, part of BRICS. It looks like South Africa is starting to view things like India does (I is India and S is South Africa in BRICS). Populist nations realise that many patents are unjust or even evil because monopoly is not more important than lives. South Africa and India both disallow patents on software, too.

“Populist nations realise that many patents are unjust or even evil because monopoly is not more important than lives.”What about the US? Well, as we showed three days ago (“GOP Media Deception, Healthwashing Patents”), the healthwashing tactics are being used to curtail and eliminate any potential of a reform. It’s the “PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DIE” sort of blackmail (if patent reform is passed).

GOP media (i.e. corporations) has played a big role in lobbying against patent reform, but oddly enough, someone called Mytheos Holt, writing in a GOP-leaning site, tackles what’s titled “The Three Dumbest “Conservative” Objections to Patent Reform”. To quote the key argument: “You have to give the enemies of patent reform credit: They do love to hide behind the idea that they’re defending the free market. To hear them tell it, in fact, they’re the only thing standing between America and a lawless jungle where Google and Apple can step on inventors with impunity and then laugh in their faces as the courts’ hands are tied.”

Here is a useful and long list of reform supporters: “Patent reform enjoys a long tradition of intellectual support from a wide range of right-leaning think tanks and advocacy groups. Conservative and libertarian groups that have advocated for patent reform in one form or another include Americans for Tax Reform, the Heartland Institute, the Cato Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the MercatusCenter, Americans for Prosperity, Frontiers of Freedom, the Independent Institute, the Manhattan Institute, the Mises Institute, Institute for Liberty, Hispanic Leadership Fund, the Institute for Policy Innovation, the Latino Coalition, Independent Women’s Forum, Lincoln Labs,the American Enterprise Institute, the Center for Individual Freedom, American Commitment, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, the Discovery Institute, Generation Opportunity, Citizen Outreach and others.”

With so much support from so many groups, how come there is still no change? See Think Progress with its new article “Why Patent Trolling Is So Hard To Fix”. As Think Progress puts it: “Software developers could have a hard time getting their next big idea patented thanks to new rules the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued, making some inventions, particularly innovative software and medical devices, unpatentable. ”

Think Progress makes it sound like a bad thing. We wrote about this an hour ago and it is definitely good news. It’s why so-called ‘reform’ might not matter after all. It’s already happening owing to the SCOTUS (Alice and § 101).

“It’s a fantasy, and just like all fantasies, sooner or later it will get shattered by reality.”Meanwhile, as revealed by Accounting Today, lobbyists’ media [1, 2], and Wall Street media [1, 2, 3, 4], the US want to introduce a ‘lower’ tax on invisible things, as if that makes any sense at all. The US is taxing immaterial things, ‘stuff’ like mere thoughts. A much later article from lawyers’ media framed this as “Tax Breaks”, stating that “proposed legislation would enable a company to deduct 71 percent of income derived from qualifying IP or 71 percent of their taxable income, if less.”

This helps prove how crazy a system we’re dealing with here, where mere ideas (misleadingly names “property”, the P in “IP” or “IPR”) are treated as taxable and the corporate media now celebrates tax “discounts” on ideas. The Alice case, which tackles a lot of these abstract patents, justifies the common reference to the case: “Alice in Wonderland”. It’s a fantasy, and just like all fantasies, sooner or later it will get shattered by reality. No country in the world deserves such a rubbish patent system. █

Syria and Libya (Weapons)

• Whose sarin?

  The absence of immediate alarm inside the American intelligence community demonstrates that there was no intelligence about Syrian intentions in the days before the attack. And there are at least two ways the US could have known about it in advance: both were touched on in one of the top secret American intelligence documents that have been made public in recent months by Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor.

  On 29 August, the Washington Post published excerpts from the annual budget for all national intelligence programmes, agency by agency, provided by Snowden. In consultation with the Obama administration, the newspaper chose to publish only a slim portion of the 178-page document, which has a classification higher than top secret, but it summarised and published a section dealing with problem areas. One problem area was the gap in coverage targeting Assad’s office. The document said that the NSA’s worldwide electronic eavesdropping facilities had been ‘able to monitor unencrypted communications among senior military officials at the outset of the civil war there’. But it was ‘a vulnerability that President Bashar al-Assad’s forces apparently later recognised’. In other words, the NSA no longer had access to the conversations of the top military leadership in Syria, which would have included crucial communications from Assad, such as orders for a nerve gas attack. (In its public statements since 21 August, the Obama administration has never claimed to have specific information connecting Assad himself to the attack.)

• Pentagon labeled Benghazi a terrorist attack as Obama administration wavered: newly declassified testimony

• New York Times Report: CIA-Backed Militias Linked to Benghazi, Libya Attack

  The Times article, based on dozens of interviews in Benghazi, asserts that the attack that killed four Americans, including US Ambassador Christopher Stevens, was carried out by Libyans who had previously been allied with the US government in the 2011 war that overthrew and murdered Gaddafi. Times correspondent David D. Kirkpatrick writes that the attack was not organized by Al Qaeda or any other group from outside Libya, but “by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO’s extensive air power and logistics support during the uprising against Colonel Qaddafi.”

Ed: Reports from last year, which are based on leaks, indicated that Benghazi had been used to funnel weapons to Syria. The leak’s coverage started in CNN and as the British press put it, “The television network said that a CIA team was working in an annex near the consulate on a project to supply missiles from Libyan armouries to Syrian rebels.”

PJ Harvey Brings Guests to BBC

• Julian Assange rails against surveillance on Today programme

• John Pilger: ‘We Have Been Misled’

  January 05, 2014 “Information Clearing House – When I travelled in Iraq in the 1990s, the two principal Moslem groups, the Shia and Sunni, had their differences but they lived side by side, even intermarried and regarded themselves with pride as Iraqis. There was no Al Qaida, there were no jihadists. We blew all that to bits in 2003 with ‘shock and awe’. And today Sunni and Shia are fighting each other right across the Middle East.

Iraq

• UK politicians accused of Iraq war crimes

• Bush’s Iraqi “freedom”: Bloody civil war

  Ten years after the US invasion began, a stable democracy in Iraq seems further away than ever

• John McCain and Lindsey Graham Want to invade Falluja Yet Again

• UK taxpayers financing immoral, inefficient arms contracts and other Underground stories

Africa

• Michael Parenti: The US Empire Sees Only Two Kinds of Countries: Satellites or Enemies

• Britain’s black power movement is at risk of being forgotten, say historians

  New biography of Darcus Howe claims struggle is ignored because it does not fit idea of Britain as ‘utopia of fair play’

• ‘Educated’ Black Men Appear ‘Whiter’ in Memory

• Mandela and Misremembering US History

  U.S. media coverage of Nelson Mandela’s legacy celebrates the late icon’s forgiveness. They mean his ability to reconcile with some of the leaders of South Africa’s apartheid years, of course; but one area that gets relatively little attention is US support for the racist government Mandela fought against.

• ‘Fake’ Mandela memorial sign language interpreter provokes anger

• NASA unveils 6-foot ‘superhero robot’ Valkyrie

  Designed to compete in the DARPA Robotics Challenge, this “female” robot could be the precursor to robo-astronauts that will help colonize Mars.

• Why Obama’s memorial selfie was not a mark of disrespect

• The ‘fake’ Mandela memorial interpreter said it all

• ‘Selfie’ diplomacy: Michelle Obama looks unamused by Barack’s joking with Danish prime minister

  For a memorial service it was a remarkably jovial scene: Barack Obama, David Cameron and Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the Danish prime minister, huddled together for a smart phone photograph.

  But one person looked distinctly less amused by the world leaders’ “selfie” – Michelle Obama.

  The First Lady stared straight ahead, hands clasped in her lap, while her husband laughed with the Europeans at Nelson Mandela’s memorial in Johannesburg.

• Obama and Mandela

  The US president was the first of six foreign heads of state to address the crowd assembled in Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium. Filled with demagogic phrases about “struggle,” “liberation,” “freedom” and “revolution,” the speech’s attempt to cloak Obama in the legacy of Mandela’s years of sacrifice, imprisonment and persecution was an obscene exercise in hypocrisy.

• Army sends troops to South Sudan, gear to African Union
  

• The Plundering of South Sudan

  Most telling of all is the BBC’s reference to Libya – another nation destroyed by Western military aggression that saw both Russian and Chinese interests crumble overnight and replaced by Western corporations. While South Sudan’s chaos is being orchestrated more covertly by the West, the final goal of pushing out the Chinese and taking over is the same.

• EU Draws Up Plans to Send Troops to Central Africa

  Draft plans for a European Union military mission in the Central African Republic envisage the deployment of hundreds of ground troops to buttress African and French forces struggling to prevent a bloodbath there, according to diplomats briefed on the proposal.

• Any More U.S. “Stabilization” and Africa Will Collapse

  In 2011, the U.S. midwifed the creation of a new nation, South Sudan. Though at the time Obama invoked the words of Dr. Martin Luther King speaking about Ghana (“I knew about all of the struggles, and all of the pain, and all of the agony that these people had gone through for this moment”) in officially recognizing the country, many were more focused on the underlying U.S. motives, isolating the rest of Sudan as part of the war on terror, and securing the oil reserves in the south for the U.S. The State Department rushed to open an embassy in South Sudan, and U.S. money poured in to pay for the new government. Like his counterparts from Iraq and Afghanistan when the U.S. was still in charge of those places, the new South Sudan president was brought to the White House for photos, all blithely pushed out to the world via the Voice of America. The two leaders were said to have discussed “the importance of maintaining transparency and the rule of law.”

Eastern Tensions

• China and Philippines: The reasons why a battle for Zhongye (Pag-asa) Island seems unavoidable

  Zhongye (Pag-asa) Island, the second largest in the South China Sea’s Spratly Islands, has an area of 0.33 square km, and is of great strategic significance for China if it wants to control a vast part of the South China Sea that it claims to be its territorial waters.

  As the Island is located roughly in the middle of the area, if China builds an air force and naval base there, it will more easily control the sky and sea in the claimed area.

The “Nazi” Smears and WW2 Recalled

• Russian Human Rights Report Casts Europe as Land of Nazis and Gay Propaganda

• Schools Have Become A Playground For Food And Beverage Marketing

  The vast majority of students are exposed to marketing campaigns by food and beverage companies at their schools, usually for unhealthy products, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics.

• ‘Hitler furious’ at Swedish minister’s satire mishap

  Sweden’s Justice Minister Beatrice Ask has been criticized for sharing a satirical article about legalized marijuana killing scores of people in the US and tying it to her anti-narcotics stand as a youth politician. Her critics did not hold back.

• From Hollywood to the Headlines: Art Looted by the Nazis Comes to Light

  It is a story with deep roots: The chaos and destruction of World War II left a horribly fragmented cultural world: art lost forever in the confusion or destroyed in battle; art declared “degenerate” and destroyed by Hitler (whose opinions on racial purity were mirrored in his opinions on purity in art); art seized throughout the continent and carted back to Germany; and art stolen from or sold under duress by Jewish collectors. It’s now almost 70 years since the war’s end, but European authorities and the descendants of the original owners of looted art are still attempting to put the pieces back where they belong.

  Close to 1,400 of these missing pieces were found in the home of 80-year-old Cornelius Gurlitt, a recluse who has been painted by the media as tragic, bizarre and potentially culpable. He inherited the art from his father, one of only four art dealers licensed by Hitler’s propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels, to purchase and sell “degenerate” art during the war.

• Digging for their lives: Russia’s volunteer body hunters

  “There are so many unburied soldiers, it will take decades to find them. There will definitely be work for our grandchildren,” says Marina. “But nature is working against us. The remains are decomposing and it is getting harder to find the bones, ID tags and army kit.” The more years that go by. The less information there is.

• Unseen Alfred Hitchcock Holocaust documentary ‘Memory of the Camps’ to be released

  An Alfred Hitchcock documentary about the Holocaust which was suppressed for political reasons is to be screened for the first time in the form its director intended after being restored by the Imperial War Museum, reports the Independent.

Summary: The notorious GMO ventures of the world’s richest robber baron expand with the establishment of a new strategic outpost in Nigeria

Gates must be really desperate for more money. 7 billion dollars in gained wealth last year isn’t enough, he wants even more. Who to rob next? How about Africa? We wrote about this topic since the previous decade and covered some evidence highlighting how it’s all arranged. See for instance:

• How the Gates Foundation Privatises Africa
• Gates Foundation Helps Bring Coca-Cola and Monsanto (GMO) to Africa
• Monsanto Plants Its Lies in the Gates Foundation-funded NPR
• Mainstream Press Misses Billions of Dollars Bill Gates Earns in Africa (Gates Foundation as Monsanto Front)
• Monsanto Investor Bill Gates Finds Way for Taxpayers to Fund His Patents (on Dangerous Life Forms)
• Gates Foundation Slammed by the Seattle-based Community Alliance for Global Justice, Accused of Harming African Farmers, Population
• Monsanto Investor Bill Gates Finds Way for Taxpayers to Fund His Patents (on Dangerous Life Forms)

In a PR and grooming piece for Renee Kaufer from the Gates Foundation it is being revealed that “since December as our Africa offices are only now opening.”

“We are seeing the (re)occupation of Africa, but the corporate press does almost nothing to highlight these simple facts.”We warned about this last month and now it goes forward, promoting GMO (which Gates invests in). To quote: “The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation plans to establish a biotechnology lab in Nigeria which will help improve the countries biotechnology capacity for crop improvement. This was revealed by Professor Ivan Ingelbrecht of Ghent University, Belgium, who visited the country on behalf of the Gates Foundation and met with the Nigerian Minister of Science and Technology, Professor Ita Okon Bassey Ewa.”

They are very careful not to say “GMO”, but it’s obvious based on the context. Well, it’s all about return for investment, or simply a case of profiteering (Gates is hiring VCs for key role along with PR people, trying to exploit women’s rights for sentimental blackmail). Remember that this foundation also has peripheral PR agencies (not just Waggener Edstrom), which generate spin and control the press, panels, etc. (Gates has already bribed the largest African news site and taken groups like AGRA into his control through moles). Quietly but surely it is getting worse for African farmers, who will be indebted to some monopoly based in another continent (Monsanto). We are seeing the (re)occupation of Africa, but the corporate press does almost nothing to highlight these simple facts. █

–Bill Gates

Summary: The next generation of people in the former British colony can end up colonised by Microsoft with its proprietary, NSA-ready software

Not too long ago Microsoft was seen interfering with GNU/Linux in Africa and now we see that again. Last month in Oxford I spent an hour talking to someone from South Africa and he explained to me what Microsoft was doing there. He was a Free software proponent, so he was passionate about this. He explained how gentle Microsoft bribes got Microsoft into schools in there, derailing Free software and ODF plans.

iophk told us that Microsoft is “afraid of FOSS in African schools” based on this new article which says:

Microsoft is expanding the push for so-called “white spaces” broadband to South Africa, where it will help to deploy the technology in a pilot project serving five primary and secondary schools.

The pilot project is aimed at getting schools in rural parts of the country’s northeastern Limpopo province connected to the Internet. If successful, it could give South Africa a tool that would help the country reach its goal of affordable broadband for 80% of the population by 2020.

[...]

In the South African project, Microsoft will work with the University of Limpopo, government agencies and a local network builder called Multisource. The project will set up a central white-spaces radio at the university and one at each of the five schools.

This is a backdoor plan to occupy the server and desktop side, too. Schools should be made aware that students will be spied on by the United States unless they choose freedom-respecting software. With memories of apartheid they should be able to grok freedom.

“Schools should be made aware that students will be spied on by the United States unless they choose freedom-respecting software. With memories of apartheid they should be able to grok freedom.”The problem is not just Microsoft but proprietary software, especially from the United States. The NSA must already know about a lot of back doors in US-made products because it’s eavesdropping on everyone’s E-mails — HP’s and IBM’s included — and then uses legal threats against companies until/unlesss they comply with US law and obey orders of excessive surveillance. It’s not just the PATRIOT Act.

We see a lot of it in NSA-Microsoft collusion and LeftHand back doors leave room for concern in hardware appliance (it's not just LeftHand). HP admits having back doors in storage servers by stating: “All HP StoreVirtual Storage systems are equipped with a mechanism that allows HP support to access the underlying operating system if permission and access is provided by the customer. This functionality cannot be disabled today.”

Here is more in this admission:

Hewlett-Packard has agreed that there is an undocumented administrative account in its StoreVirtual products, and is promising a patch by 17 July.

The issue, which seems to have existed since 2009, was brought to the attention of The Register by Technion, the blogger who earlier published an undocumented backdoor in the company’s StoreOnce products.

Proprietary software is malicious and dangerous. South Africa oughtn’t touch it, and especially not impose it on children. This software comes from a country that labelled Mandela “terrorists” until 2008 and provided information to aid his arrest decades ago. █

Summary: Gates is further expanding his war on seed freedom, promoting instead — in very nefarious ways — a GMO (genetically-monopolised ownership) agenda from which he derives great profit

THE Gates Foundation is hungry. It is hungry for more power and wealth and it is trying hard to make billions by investing in genetically-monopolised crops. The marketing strategy is to pretend it’s about curing people’s illnesses and/or ending hunger. In reality it’s about introducing higher cancer risk and making food more expensive, hence harder to acquire.

“It is rule/reign by proxy, relaying Gates’ policies for his investments.”AllAfrica, which Bill Gates has bribed to promote his agenda in Africa (this is a large hub of articles, some say the largest in the continent) published the puff piece “Gates Foundation to Build Standard Biotech Lab in Nigeria” and a similar ‘article’ (more like PR, maybe ghost-written by the peripheral PR agencies) repeats just talking points without doing any investigation. It says: “The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, an independent and Non-governmental Organisation, has concluded arrangement to build a standard biotechnology laboratory to help build human capacity in national programmes in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.”

Africa as a whole. Got that?

It is rule/reign by proxy, relaying Gates’ policies for his investments. Here is one part which echoes Gates’ henchman: “My mission in Nigeria as mandated by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is to see the possibilities of empowering Nigeria: the National Systems, Programmes in Nigeria, to have the capacity to use biotechnology laboratory technologies for crop improvement”.” Guess who pays this man’s wage. With a black face, a lot of people will fail to spot the ringleader and the foreign profiteer.

Is it actually doing good at all? No, this is not helping Nigeria. In fact, it harms it in many ways. Ask anyone familiar enough with Monsanto why that is. Gates gives these people bribes, as we covered on numerous occasions before (across Africa). Here is the latest example, an award as an excuse for passing bribes (endorsement came with money in the past, maybe this time too).

These people don’t seem to mind the fact that Gates is causing polio in Africa, for profit, through malicious corporations that exploit Africans and harm their health for improved revenue (notably Shell). To them, Africa is an opportunity not just because it has vast oil reserves underground but also because it can be extracted from the ground while causing great pollution (smoke, leaks) without incurring the wrath of lawyers. The same goes for clinical trials (drug experimentation on humans in large numbers, without the threat of litigation).

“The whole idea is to monopolise people’s food even in less Americanised nations.”They keep printing the lie that Gates is working to end polio, giving him credit for other people’s work.

While this plutocrat puts his money in abusive oppression we also see further confirmation that confidence in GMO is somewhat low. “According to Nation Of Change,” says this report, “in an article dated July 6, Bill Gates his foundation are preparing for doomsday by having a seed vault built in a permafrost mountain of Norway. Specifically in the on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, which is part of the group of islands known as Svalbard. For those of you that do not know much about Mr. Gates here is a small run down of him according to news reports and articles available internet-wide. Mr. Gates is not only the creator of Microsoft and one of the world’s, if not THE world’s, richest man. But he is also known for funneling tons of money into the genetically modified food (GMO) realm.”

Yes, so sure about the value of GMO that they have a backup vault, eh? But that’s not the full story, as the main issue with GMO is the patents. The whole idea is to monopolise people’s food even in less Americanised nations. And Gates invests in this agenda (profit) while lobbying for it under the guise of “doing good”. We are not going to delve into research about pesticides, cancer, soil toxicity, etc. because it’s not our subject of interest (patents are more relevant to us), but for those who wish to know about GMO, there are plenty of good resources all over the Web and in published literature. Techrights has already covered GMO in African in some of the posts below. █

• How the Gates Foundation Privatises Africa
• Gates Foundation Helps Bring Coca-Cola and Monsanto (GMO) to Africa
• Monsanto Plants Its Lies in the Gates Foundation-funded NPR
• Mainstream Press Misses Billions of Dollars Bill Gates Earns in Africa (Gates Foundation as Monsanto Front)
• Monsanto Investor Bill Gates Finds Way for Taxpayers to Fund His Patents (on Dangerous Life Forms)
• Gates Foundation Slammed by the Seattle-based Community Alliance for Global Justice, Accused of Harming African Farmers, Population
• Monsanto Investor Bill Gates Finds Way for Taxpayers to Fund His Patents (on Dangerous Life Forms)

Nairobi

Summary: Microsoft, which repeatedly tried paying those who embraced GNU/Linux to change course, is reportedly expanding this expensive strategy and may soon implement staff cuts to subsidise this misguided last resort

Microsoft and Apple are not doing as well as their investors are led to believe. The costs of computers are declining owing to GNU/Linux with affordable and energy-efficient ARM/Tegra chips. People realise that such systems better guard their freedom, too. More and more nations are now turning to FOSS for ideological reasons, not just purely technical or economic reasons. Microsoft and Apple try litigation as a business plan, but they are mostly failing. In the mean time, Apple’s value nosedives and Microsoft is scrambling to restore its illegal monopoly.

“More and more nations are now turning to FOSS for ideological reasons, not just purely technical or economic reasons.”Over in Kenya, where Microsoft has used very dirty tactics [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], it is reported that Microsoft is still trying to crush GNU/Linux using a familiar strategy. “The Linux Professional Institute has opposed a move by Microsoft to partner with the Kenyan government in an ambitious US$2 billion laptop project,” says an new report. It adds that: “During a visit last month, Microsoft International President Jean Philippe Courtois met with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and announced a training partnership, a move that has received mixed reactions. The plan calls for the government to issue a laptop to every child enrolling in primary school next year.”

The man behind this push from Microsoft is a really malicious and dangerous sociopath, Mr. Courtois [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. They should seriously watch out. Rebecca Wanjiku of IDG covered this and she cites IDC, part of IDG (not stating the conflict). What we see here is a repetition of the war on OLPC. Microsoft used the same tactics to destroy that project and LPI seems to have learned a lesson, not just given lessons. “The Linux Professional Institute in Kenya has issued a position paper on the partnership, saying that it is a move to lock children to one operating system,” says the report. That is correct and we know this based on a long, agonising experience. It is not unusual for Microsoft to even bribe Africans to abandon GNU/Linux, as we showed in prior years.

“…don’t expect Microsoft not to try to sabotage such liberation efforts.”The final point made by IDG is, “The Linux Professional Institute in Kenya is hoping to convince the country’s leadership to explore and adopt open source solutions and join other countries that have done so, including Germany, Spain, France, China, Brazil, India, and South Korea.”

That is good stuff, but don’t expect Microsoft not to try to sabotage such liberation efforts. Now that the company is collapsing [1, 2] and more layoffs might be imminent the gloves are off and bribes are abundant. Here is the latest.

Nokia, which is now a pawn of Microsoft, not so long ago tried to help Microsoft gain leverage in sub-notebooks (netbooks), after Microsoft had allegedly bribed netbook makers to have them drop GNU/Linux.

According to this, Microsoft is doing that in phones now. To quote IDG:

Microsoft kicks back $5-$10 to resellers who peddle select Windows 8 hardware

Starting today, Microsoft will give resellers up to $10 for each device they sell from a list of 21 Windows 8 touch-enabled PCs and tablets, company executives said.

The new program is the latest move by Microsoft to kick up sales, which on the PC side have been downright depressing. Research firm IDC, for instance, has forecast a decline of nearly 8% for 2013, and has already hinted that the drop may be even steeper. In tablets, Microsoft has had little luck in making much of an inroad into a market dominated by operating systems built by rivals Apple and Google.

But the selective nature of the incentive program — fewer than two dozen different devices qualify — shows it’s also a continuation of a strategy Microsoft has used since last summer’s launch of the Surface line, when the company said it entered the hardware business to have a platform that really flaunted Windows 8.

Well, if bribing is Microsoft’s expensive strategy, then no wonder there’s such a mess coming later today. Can Microsoft continue its quarterly layoffs while distracting the press?

CEO Steve Ballmer expected to announce dramatic restructuring around services and hardware this week, sources tell AllThingsD.

That’s later today. Pay careful attention to what they are trying to hide. A “reorg” is always bad news, wrapped up in heavy PR (mass-mailing journalists, ghost-writing, comment AstroTurfing, et cetera). █

Summary: The man who turned almost all computers into Microsoft (and NSA) property is trying to turn the world’s food supplies into property of American companies he invests in while lobbying politicians to legislate for his personal gain

The poor Gates Foundation just can’t catch a break these days. All these ‘pesky’ journalists — those whom Bill Gates has not bribed yet — are increasingly aware of what his profitable-but-tax-exempt foundation is up to. Here is an article criticising Gates for his Monsanto agenda. To quote some parts of the analysis:

Gates Foundation’s support of Monsanto reveals it has put ending hunger on the back burner

Last month, more than 2,000 people in Seattle joined protestors in more than 400 cities and 50 countries to collectively speak out against Monsanto, one of the world’s biggest agricultural biotechnology corporations, which specializes in genetically engineered (GE) seeds. But in a sense, those people were also protesting the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, since the world’s wealthiest nonprofit supports the biotech giant.

This is an unfortunate connection that perpetuates hunger around the globe.

From its beginning, Monsanto has been responsible for manufacturing and distributing highly toxic and carcinogenic products such as polychlorinated biphenyls, known as PCBs, and Agent Orange. In the 1940s Monsanto was one of 15 companies that produced the insecticide DDT, the use of which was criticized in Rachel Carson’s landmark environmental book “Silent Spring.” In 1972, U.S. officials banned the agricultural use of DDT.

Now, the company claims it has left chemical manufacturing behind and is exclusively focused on sustainable solutions to food production promoting the use of GE corn, soy, cotton and other crops. And this is where the Gates Foundation comes in: A financial donor to Monsanto, the Gates Foundation advocates for the use of GE foods to solve hunger in developing countries. However, history has shown that instead of eradicating hunger, GE seeds perpetuate food insecurity.

[...]

Industrial agriculture continues to fall short of feeding the world but provides tremendous financial gains to Monsanto’s shareholders. It’s a shame the Gates Foundation, which many consider a local leading light, can’t see this. Until Monsanto and the Gates Foundation realize that sustainable agriculture, not GE seeds, is the solution to feed the world, many people around the globe will remain hungry.

That’s correct, mainly because the goal of Gates is to control and to profit. It is not a charity and there are many strings attached. Bill Gates is appointing people in politics and running nations in Africa (by proxy), pretending to fight polio while in fact causing it with some of his investments [1, 2]. The goal is to control policy, with which Gates can profit as he already does (he gets richer over time, despite the fact that the corporate media paints him as a giver).

“When Gates spends an average of $1,000,000 day (or more) just buying the media, then it’s easy to be bamboozled.”Watch Gates playing politics not just in his home country, He keeps playing the game of politics while trying to get politicians to hand over taxpayers’ money to investments of the Gates Foundation.

Some gullible — but not necessarily foolish — people really believe Gates has changed, even though he is still working for the abusive monopolist Microsoft and publicly lobbying for Microsoft. “Microsoft chairman Bill Gates will deliver the keynote address at a Microsoft research event later this month, the first time he has done so in eight years, Microsoft said.” That’s from IDG. People who think that the main shareholder of Microsoft and the man behind the company’s crimes is somehow a saint now should simply consider themselves easily bamboozled. When Gates spends an average of $1,000,000 day (or more) just buying the media, then it’s easy to be bamboozled. █

Summary: Bill Gates is trying to extract profit from the world’s poorest people

The Gates-funded press is still grooming this lobbyist who subsidises his barrage of propaganda. Watch the lobbyist taking PR photos like the ones here (with black children) to promote Windows software. The only thing worse than that is his Monsanto/GMO lobbying in Africa, which he does by lobbying African leaders directly [1, 2, 3, 4]. The above largely-circulated piece reads almost like a press release and it was posted in many regional news sites/press releases outlets. It was possibly ghostwritten by the Gates Foundation, which is not unusual (there are peripheral PR agencies that do it by proxy). “Former President John Agyekum Kufuor, Chairman of the John A. Kufuor Foundation,” says the placement, “over the weekend held high level discussions in London with Mr Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft Corporation” (like he knows anything about the area he lobbies on).

“Africa is passing a lot of taxpayers’ money to companies that Gates invests in and it’s no coincidence.”Gates lobbying for profit under the disguise of “doing good” and “I know what I talk about because I’m rich” (apparently he deems himself an economist now). Watch this shallow piece from the press of Gates’ spying business partner [1, 2]. It neglects to say that Gates’ investments are causing polio in Nigeria [1, 2] and looking at the corresponding press release we find that the Gates-bribed AllAfrica is pretty much run by Gates now, The press release was posted online by the Bill Gates-bribed site (“AllAfrica” is a misnomer, pretending that they speak for Africans while actually funded by those who pillage and plunder Africans, see here for the latest ‘plant’), along with totally fabricated/bogus figures (based on made-up patent tariffs and money raised from taxpayers against their will, due to lobbying) that are intended to make the hoarder sound like he is generous.”Gates Foundation will match two-to-one,” it says. Well, in other words, make up some figures, get to hoover taxpayers’ money for Gates profit. It’s the same old trick. After some searches we found just one more site that covered it and it played to the tune of Gates. Yes, Times of India reposting the press release with some editing is what we found. showing that Times of India is not a real news site. Gates has killed journalism, so now he can steal everyone’s money without anyone calling him out on it. He got 7 billion dollars richer last year alone. Africa is passing a lot of taxpayers’ money to companies that Gates invests in and it’s no coincidence. █

Summary: Why Monsanto is a symptom of the world’s power/control being put in few private hands, notably Gates and his friends who invest in Monsanto and publicly lobby for it

Bill Gates, who uses the Gates Foundation for gains in money and power, is not a villain because he made an extra 7 billion dollars last year (while everyone in the world seems to be going broke), becoming the world's richest person again. It is because of how he makes money. By buying our media he lies about it constantly and continues investing (for profit) in some of the companies most harmful to humanity while also lobbying for them, directly or indirectly (e.g. through proxies like AGRA for GMO).

“Then there is GMO promotion; giving people patented pesticides/seeds is hardly “feeding the hungry” or doing charity.”Gates has been lobbying almost exclusively for his investments, using the disguise of “charity”. Let’s consider that he exploits the world’s poorest for marketing and experimentation. Take Africa for example. Gates has investments in the leaky oil industry there (for profit) which is actually responsible for poisoning and killing many Nigerians, sometimes indirectly (even causing polio, as opposed to fighting polio as Gates likes to claim in the Nigerian press that he buys).

Then there is GMO promotion; giving people patented pesticides/seeds is hardly “feeding the hungry” or doing charity. It is feeding Gates, a Monsanto shareholder. Days ago we all witnessed an international day of action against Monsanto. It received a lot of coverage, raising awareness and having a strong effect in alternative media; owing to the action being global (436 cities by some counts) the non-US government press covered it also. The US government actually lobbies for Monsanto based on cables from Wikileaks. The BBC, our own government press, was the same. The BBC Web site, a pro-GMO publication funded by Bill Gates, seems to have ignored the protests and Bloomberg, owned by the billionaire who loves to protect bankers from protesters, did the same for Monsanto. Going back to Monsanto in Africa, the subject was already explored here, in posts such as:

• How the Gates Foundation Privatises Africa
• Gates Foundation Helps Bring Coca-Cola and Monsanto (GMO) to Africa
• Monsanto Plants Its Lies in the Gates Foundation-funded NPR
• Mainstream Press Misses Billions of Dollars Bill Gates Earns in Africa (Gates Foundation as Monsanto Front)
• Monsanto Investor Bill Gates Finds Way for Taxpayers to Fund His Patents (on Dangerous Life Forms)
• Gates Foundation Slammed by the Seattle-based Community Alliance for Global Justice, Accused of Harming African Farmers, Population
• Monsanto Investor Bill Gates Finds Way for Taxpayers to Fund His Patents (on Dangerous Life Forms)

A few months ago Bill Gates invested $25 Million in “Controversial GM Crop Center”. Mind the term investment, that’s the simple fact. It’s far from the only such example. The report says: “The research center largely responsible for launching the “green revolution” of the 1960s that dramatically raised crop yields is getting support from the world’s richest men to develop genetically-modified seeds to help farmers in the developing world grow more grain in the face of a changing climatic conditions and increased demand.”

“It is an investment, not a charity.”There is no proper coverage of this in Africa. Gates already gagged the press there. It was not expensive to achieve, either. A Gates-bribed site (millions of dollars in bribe in exchange for favourable coverage and self-censorship) claims to be Africa’s leading news source (with investment from Gates) and one of its latest articles on GMO reads like a press release while health-washing a Gates investment (no disclosure there about Gates funding the site). The actual news is, Gates is selling debt to poor Africans, along with the controversial World Bank, a Gates partner [1, 2]. It says: “The International Finance Corporation, IFC, said on Tuesday that it is working with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK’s Department for International Development to invest about $60 million (about N9.42billion) to help boost the coverage of priority health technologies and intervention services that benefit over one million poor Nigerians.”

It is an investment, not a charity. They want this money back with interest. Here are some new PR photos from the corporate press (yes, smile for the camera with black children, it’s good for your investments, Bill).

“In a way, Monsanto is a symptom of society being controlled by greedy plutocratic monopolists who control our media and politicians.”Hailed as a visionary by the Microsoft-affiliated sites (MSNBC) which print everything Gates says, Gates keeps lobbying in areas he does not grok. Gates grew up ultra-rich, he does not understand poverty. It’s not just him though. How perverse it must be for the world’s richest woman to speak ‘for’ the world’s poorest as seen here. It’s insane. “Melinda Gates stands before 5,000 Duke University graduates,” says this article. What is her achievement in education, other than marrying a college dropout who made money breaking the law? Money buys keynotes, still, allowing lobbying to take place even in graduation ceremonies. Such situations help lobbying in education (Gates wants privatisation) with inexpensive personal-themed stories planted in educational press.

If the world is looking for the enemy, Monsanto may not be it. In a way, Monsanto is a symptom of society being controlled by greedy plutocratic monopolists who control our media and politicians. They also control a vast proportion of the world’s wealth, owing in part to taxes like mortgages, inflation, and patent royalties imposed by the likes or Monsanto. █

Summary: Microsoft colludes with dubious officials in order to pass a lot of public money to crooks who habitually misuse their power over code

The Egyptians seem to have learned from their neighbour Tunisia [1, 2, 3] and given that Microsoft and Gates Foundation actively work to occupy Egypt they should keep their eyes open. This week they rise up against a Microsoft deal that discriminates against software fostered by local developers for autonomy and freedom. To quote one report:

A group of organisations, companies and high-profile individuals have released a statement calling for a protest on Sunday in front of the Cabinet in Cairo, in response to a recent government decision to purchase Microsoft software licenses and products to upgrade government agencies. Under the name Open Egypt, the signees demand the government re-evaluate their deal.

At a cost of more than 43 million dollars, activists such as Abdel Rahman Mansour from the We are all Khaled Sayeed and human rights’ organisations such as the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights say it is a waste of money, considering the availability of Free Open Source Software (FOSS) and Egypt’s current economic state.

Indeed, the use of FOSS is seen as the more strategic option, as it allows the government to invest that money elsewhere and with the added benefit of utilising existing FOSS software already operating in many agencies.

So the rule by puppets may remain after Mubarak was toppled. The North Americans can control Egypt through software, just as Vodafone did through networks. Here is another article on this matter:

Egypt: The People Demand Free and Open Source Software

[...]

Things did not stop here, but members of the Open Source community in Egypt called for a silent demonstration in front of the cabinet of ministers on the 30th of December. Other demonstrations are also being arranged in different parts of Egypt. And the hashtag #OpenEgypt is now being used to introduce people to Open Source Software, and their benefits.

We covered many such stories from different nations in prior years. The plot always repeated itself and rarely did we see the public rising up in opposition. So well done, people of Egypt, fight the good fight and show the rest of the world how it’s done. One reader sent us this link (Arabic with translation) an hour ago. It seems like the protests are paying off! █

Professor Moglen wrote about the case of a parasite versus Red Hat, noting that GPL violation is now being alleged by Red Hat: “Twin Peaks Software, Inc., which makes proprietary data replication and cloud storage software, sued Red Hat and its subsidiary Gluster for patent infringement back in February. Last week, Red Hat filed a counterclaim in that litigation, alleging copyright infringement by Twin Peaks in misappropriating GPL’d software.

“Red Hat’s counterclaim asserts that Twin Peaks has copied GPL’d code, from mount, into their proprietary mount.mfs utility, which is distributed to licensees of their data replication products. Red Hat holds copyright on most of the code in the relevant version of mount, which is part of the util-linux package.”

As put by another site, “Red Hat Says Twin Peaks In GPL Violation, Seeks Injunction”. As a reminder, it is copyright law that helps enforce the GPL. To quote the article: “If you remember, Red Hat was sued by a company called Twin Peaks over patent infringement. In its lawsuit filed in March 2012, Twin Peaks alleged that Red Hat and its newly acquired subsidiary Gluster infringed upon its U.S. Patent 7,418,439 Mirror file system. The patent was filed in 2001 and issued in 2008. According to the patent description, A mirror file systems (MFS) is a virtual file system that links two or more file systems together and mirrors between them in real time. Twin Peaks seek injunctions and damages for the alleged patents.”

So it is clear that the GPL finds copyright law a necessity, not wholly a nuisance. In that case, why does Microsoft continue to abuse the population of Kenya [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] by showering it with lies? Here is the latest lie: “Information Technology firms are warning of increased cyber-attack should the Government move to ditch copyrighted software.

“We expect Microsoft to play dirty and to lie as it always does in Kenya, based on what we saw.”The headline says “State warned on ditching copyrighted software”. To quote further: “Last week, the Government issued a warning that in the next three years it will move its IT operations to Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), a move that will reduce cost by more than half in IT expenses.

“Microsoft said the move is risky and bound to make Government systems more vulnerable to hackers.

““We agree with the open standards but not the free and open source software strategy,” said Paul Roy Owino, technology advisor, Microsoft East and Southern Africa.”

We expect Microsoft to play dirty and to lie as it always does in Kenya, based on what we saw. █

Summary: Update on Gates in Africa (bringing corporations to the black continent) and a call for help

OUR Gates-watching efforts (see Gates Foundation Critique) have suffered from the lack of time dedicated to them. Priorities changed somewhat. For the uninitiated, Gates is a missionary who instead of spreading monotheistic religions is spreading the culture of greed and exploits population under the guise of “sacred works”. Here is a good new article about it (sent by a reader):

Another missionary in Africa: the Bill Gates myth

Bill Gates is a walking talking Bill Gates commercial. It matters not that he retired from Microsoft. The Bill Gates image is still very serious business. Arguably his most famous quote is “Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.” He dresses the part: very casual with the preppy uniform of khakis and blue. His prepiness and nerdiness follow from his prep school background. But not too many nerds drop out of college, as Gates did. College is the place to find nerds; that’s where nerds get their revenge. Gates constructed the Microsoft company environment like a college campus. It’s part of the myth of that gentle, coed, carefree, nurturing, professorial and now the giving, philanthropist Bill Gates. It’s all very disarming.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) leads the push to bring nutrition and health to Africa. But this move requires some scrutiny and a determination as to whether this is another image builder or worse: an attack by a modern day missionary on another unsuspecting indigenous population. Yes, some Africans are an indigenous population too.

CMD/PR Watch used to do a lot of watching of rogue foundations including Gates’. But they too seem to have lost this sort of focus and even their new coverage of Monsanto and others in Africa is just very limited and brief. To quote:

How the US Sold Africa to Multinationals like Monsanto, Cargill, DuPont, PepsiCo and Others

Driving through Ngong Hills, not far from Nairobi, Kenya, the corn on one side of the road is stunted and diseased. The farmer will not harvest a crop this year. On the other side of the road, the farmer gave up growing corn and erected a greenhouse, probably for growing a high-value crop like tomatoes. Though it’s an expensive investment, agriculture consultants now recommend them. Just up the road, at a home run by Kenya Children of Hope, an organization that helps rehabilitate street children and reunite them with their families, one finds another failed corn crop and another greenhouse. The director, Charity, is frustrated because the two acres must feed the rescued children and earn money for the organization. After two tomato crops failed in the new greenhouse, her consultant recommended using a banned, toxic pesticide called carbofuran.

Gates is behind some of this, but it is not being discussed above.

Those who are interested in helping our Gates-watching efforts will hopefully get in touch. We could use more contributions. Gates has a lot to do with the patents culture that we challenge. Patents are monopolies protected by patent laws. Companies like Monsanto heavily depend on those. █

Summary: The crackdowns on counterfeiting in at least one African nation help the adoption of Free/open source software

WHENEVER we hear about Kenya [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] we tend to hear about corporate corruption and other misuses of positions of power. The counterfeiting wars are mentioned quite frequently too because the pirates from Microsoft and its front groups (such as the BSA) raid local businesses, sparking adoption of Free/open source software, which Microsoft in turn attacks in a variety of nefarious ways. To quote a new report:

Kenyans are turning to open source software, which are freely available to the public, after the fight against piracy was stepped up in the East African nation.

Microsoft East and Southern Africa and Kenya Copyright Board (Kecobo) have in the past months intensified war on pirated software, raiding several businesses suspected to be dealing in unlicensed software, confiscating computers and instituting legal action against offenders.

This is a good and very new example of why counterfeiting is actually beneficial to Microsoft. The report contains some common mistakes and myths, but it’s still worth reading. █

“Microsoft boss Bill Gates threatened to kill 800 Danish jobs if Denmark opposed the European Computer Implemented Inventions Directive, reports today’s Danish financial daily Børsen, quoted by NoSoftwarePatents.com”

–P2PNet, 2005

Summary: More cables from South Africa and new information that they provide

Frost and Sullivan, a familiar source of anti-FOSS, pro-Microsoft FUD, brings back memories of South Africa's interesting podcast where experts claimed that Microsoft buddies did a lot of work to derail the government’s migration to Free software. According to the following Cablegate cable, the FUD from Frost and Sullivan is bordering the ridiculous. To them, Internet speed if an impediment of Free software development. What utter crock. From the Cablegate cable: “High cost of internet access is stifling South Africa’s software development industry and thwarting the SAG’s open source procurement policy and commitment to use locally developed software. According to Linda McDonald, an analyst for Frost and Sullivan, the SAG’s plan to save million of rands yearly by cutting out annual software license fees, boost local skills and create more jobs as developers are hired to modify open source software to suit the government’s needs, is a false hope unless the cost of Internet access drops. Unless developers can spend numerous hours in online discussions at an affordable rate, they will not be able to create the necessary programs for the SAG’s software. (Business Day, September 25, 2007)”

What utter nonsense. So accessing forums is the impediment for Free software implementation and the primary cost constraint? This sounds so made up that one might consider it a hoax. A sceptic might ask, how can we know she was not sincere? Well, there is an implicit suggestion there that Free software needs a lot of querying (as though proprietary software needs none), that online forums/E-mail are bandwidth intensive, and that the country is not talented enough for the task (Microsoft used the same insulting talking points and it backfired). So if Linda McDonald was honest, she should probably be fired. But we gave examples of some other Microsoft proxies (like Computing Technology Industry Association) that did similar things to have South Africa abandon its ODF and FOSS plans. It’s like a cult assault. Here is another cable from the same nation. From ¶3: “One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is a nonprofit initiative launched by MIT Media Labs’ Nicholas Negroponte to donate low-cost and rugged notebook computers to poor children of the third world. (For details see http://laptop.org and http://wiki.laptop.org.) The resulting “XO” machine is designed for kids: smaller and lighter than regular PCs, with a waterproof keyboard sized to small fingers, and a carrying handle. Its bright colors prompt comparison to Fischer- Price toys. The XO’s screen resolution is sharp, however, and it comes loaded with an open-source operating system and software ranging from a web browser to e-book reader and puzzle games, as well as applications for word processing, drawing, and composing music. A built-in video camera and wireless modem enable video chat with other users.”

Here is another interesting cable from South Africa. The two newer ones (to us) are:

VZCZCXRO3994
RR RUEHDU RUEHJO
DE RUEHSA #3538/01 2820641
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 090641Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2184
RUCPCIM/CIMS NTDB WASHDC
RUCPDC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 7593
RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN 4938
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 9252

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PRETORIA 003538 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/S/RMARBURG; AF/EPS; EB/IFD/OMA 
USDOC FOR 4510/ITA/MAC/AME/OA/DIEMOND 
TREASURY FOR OAISA/RALYEA/CUSHMAN 
USTR FOR COLEMAN 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON [Economic Conditions], EFIN [Financial and Monetary Affairs], EINV [Foreign Investments], 
ETRD [Foreign Trade], EMIN [Minerals and Metals], EPET [Petroleum and Natural Gas], ENRG [Energy and Power],
 BEXP [Trade Expansion and Promotion], KTDB [National Trade Data Bank], SENV [Environmental Affairs], 
PGOV [Internal Governmental Affairs], SF [South Africa] 
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA ECONOMIC NEWS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER OCOTOBER 5, 
2007 ISSUE 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary.  This is Volume 7, issue 40 of U.S. Embassy 
Pretoria's South Africa Economic News weekly newsletter. 
 
Topics of this week's newsletter are: 
- Trade Deficit Disappoints Market 
- Internet Costs Stifle SAG Open Source Policy 
- Car Sales Decline Again 
- Critic Claims Climate Consciousness Dims at Energy Summit 
- Biofuel Won't Burn Food Prices 
- SARB Transparent Despite Personal Cost 
- Completing the Supply Chain 
- AngloGold Still Optimistic About Fatality-Free Deep-Level Mining 
 
End Summary. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Trade Deficit Disappoints Market 
-------------------------------- 
¶2.  (U) South Africa's trade deficit in August totaled R9.1 billion, 
barely changed from last month and well above forecasts.  The trade 
gap suggests the current account deficit could widen further, 
putting additional pressure on the rand.  Exports rose .8% while 
imports increased .1% compared with July.  The cumulative deficit 
for the calendar year is R50.1 billion, a significant increase over 
the R41.6 billion deficit for the same period last year.  With the 
strength of the rand eroding the appeal of exports and an 
infrastructure plan boosting the need for imports of machinery and 
equipment, South Africa's international trade position "is still 
very weak," according to Efficient Research Economist Nico Kelder. 
(Business Day, October 1, 2007) 
 
----=--------------------------------------- 
Internet Costs Stifle SAG Open Source Policy 
-------------------------------------------- 
¶3. (U) High cost of internet access is stifling South Africa's 
software development industry and thwarting the SAG's open source 
procurement policy and commitment to use locally developed software. 
 According to Linda McDonald, an analyst for Frost and Sullivan, the 
SAG's plan to save million of rands yearly by cutting out annual 
software license fees, boost local skills and create more jobs as 
developers are hired to modify open source software to suit the 
government's needs, is a false hope unless the cost of Internet 
access drops.  Unless developers can spend numerous hours in online 
discussions at an affordable rate, they will not be able to create 
the necessary programs for the SAG's software.  (Business Day, 
September 25, 2007) 
 
----------------------- 
Car Sales Decline Again 
----------------------- 
¶4. (U) New vehicle sales continued their decline, plunging in August 
by 13% compared with August 2006.  This is the biggest fall in 
nearly five years and marks the sixth monthly decline in a row. 
Annual sales year-to-date are down by 3.2%.  In the year to last 
month, sales for passenger cars and commercial vehicles plunged 
14.1% and 11%, respectively.  Heavy commercial vehicles increased, 
reflecting heavy public and private sector spending on 
infrastructure.  Standard Bank Economist Danelee van Dyk estimated 
that South Africa will experience a 5-7% fall in the whole market 
this year.  Higher interest rates, stricter lending criteria and 
strikes in the motor industry have added to the pressures on demand. 
 (Business Day, October 2, 2007) 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Critic Claims Climate Consciousness Dims at Energy Summit 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶5. (U) Johannesburg Earthlife Africa Sustainable Energy and Climate 
Change Project Coordinator Richard Worthington offered a contrarian 
view of the September 25-26 Energy Summit in a Business Day 
editorial on October 3.  The Energy Summit was organized by the SAG 
Department of Energy to engage stake-holders in a reassessment of 
the 1998 national energy policy white paper.  Worthington criticized 
the energy summit for being too focused on security of energy supply 
and set on a significant expansion of coal and nuclear power, 
including an emphasis on coal-to-liquid technology (with significant 
carbon emissions) and "new-fangled and unproven" Pebble Bed Modular 
Reactor technology.  Worthington lamented that the SAG has failed to 
implement the commitment in the 1998 energy policy "to ensure that 
an equitable level of national resources is invested in renewable 
energy technologies" - as reiterated in the Department of Energy 
 
PRETORIA 00003538  002 OF 003 
 
 
paper released at the Summit.  Worthington concluded his editorial 
by criticizing the linkage between minerals and energy. (Business 
Day, October 3, 2007) 
 
------------------------------ 
Biofuel Won't Burn Food Prices 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (U) Department of Energy Chief Director of Clean Energy Sandile 
Tyata said South Africa's commitment to biofuel production would not 
overly burden food prices due to increased demand for corn.  He 
stressed that biofuels would not be a "free-for-all" and there would 
be guidelines and limitations on what could be done when it was 
introduced.  Tyata was responding to cautionary statements that the 
biofuel industry would keep food prices high, and questions about 
the wisdom of using corn and sugar as sources of ethanol as a 
biofuel additive to gasoline.  South African Reserve Bank Governor 
Tito Mboweni noted the risks to food prices in comments in August. 
Tyata said the SAG was finalizing its biofuels strategy, so he could 
not comment on details of the plan.  It is expected that 1.2 billion 
of liters of bioethanol will be produced in South Africa by 2010, 
according to the President of the SA Biofuels Association Andrew 
Makenete, who asserted that the introduction of biofuels would be 
good for the food industry.  (Business Report, October 3, 2007) 
 
-------------------------------------- 
SARB Transparent Despite Personal Cost 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Governor Tito Mboweni 
emphasized the need for SARB transparency in a recent speech in 
Pretoria.  He acknowledged, however, that transparency sometimes has 
a personal cost.  "For instance, we publish the governor's 
compensation package.  The first year we did that people complained 
I earned more than the Finance Minister and the President earned." 
Publication of the package even sparked a shareholder's revolt in 
2003, which led to the replacement of the head of SARB's 
Remuneration Committee.  However, the public outcry was not the 
worst of Mboweni's worries.  "It was particularly a problem for me 
as a divorcee," he told the audience.  "My ex-wife found out how 
much I earned and asked for more maintenance."  (Pretoria News, 
October 2, 2007) 
 
--------------------------- 
Completing the Supply Chain 
--------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) Engineering News previously reported that last year only 9% 
of the 745 million tons per year of freight transported in South 
Africa used rail.  Some 88% of freight transport takes place on the 
country's road infrastructure, exacerbating congestion, accidents, 
and the deterioration of infrastructure.  Council for Scientific and 
Industrial Research (CSIR) supply chain analyst Emma Maspero called 
for greater coordination of the supply chain, including inter-modal 
transfer of containers between road and rail and to and from ports. 
He claimed that more freight carried by rail would generate 
significant savings to the economy.  CSIR is working on a number of 
initiatives with the Transnet National Ports Authority that address 
increasing containerization and aim at increased planning and 
efficiencies.  Current infrastructure development includes deepening 
and widening the entrance channel at the Port of Durban, designing 
and constructing a new port at Ngqura in the Eastern Cape, and 
upgrading the container terminal at the Cape Town Port. 
(Engineering News, October 1, 2007) 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
AngloGold Still Optimistic About Fatality-Free Deep-Level Mining 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶9. (U) Africa's leading gold producer AngloGold Ashanti said on 
Tuesday it believed it was possible to mine at deep levels without 
suffering fatalities, after four of its workers were killed 
following seismic events at its Mponeng mine on Friday.  COO Neville 
Nicolau said it was not a solution to close down the shafts that had 
fatalities, as many people depended on these mines for jobs, a 
sentiment which was shared by labor representatives.  Instead, 
companies like AngloGold Ashanti needed to work with labor and 
government to effect a cultural change that led workers to 
thoroughly understand the reasons for safety, and not just act to 
appease their supervisors.  South Africa has some of the world's 
 
PRETORIA 00003538  003 OF 003 
 
 
deepest gold mines, and their owners have repeatedly come under fire 
from the unions and government for the high fatality rates in these 
mines.  AngloGold Ashanti owned many of these mines and has already 
suffered 23 fatalities so far this year.  (Mining Weekly, October 3, 
2007) 
 
BALL

And the second cable:

VZCZCXRO3994
RR RUEHDU RUEHJO
DE RUEHSA #3538/01 2820641
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 090641Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2184
RUCPCIM/CIMS NTDB WASHDC
RUCPDC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 7593
RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN 4938
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 9252

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PRETORIA 003538 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/S/RMARBURG; AF/EPS; EB/IFD/OMA 
USDOC FOR 4510/ITA/MAC/AME/OA/DIEMOND 
TREASURY FOR OAISA/RALYEA/CUSHMAN 
USTR FOR COLEMAN 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON [Economic Conditions], EFIN [Financial and Monetary Affairs], EINV [Foreign Investments], 
ETRD [Foreign Trade], EMIN [Minerals and Metals], EPET [Petroleum and Natural Gas], ENRG [Energy and Power], 
BEXP [Trade Expansion and Promotion], KTDB [National Trade Data Bank], SENV [Environmental Affairs], 
PGOV [Internal Governmental Affairs], SF [South Africa] 
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA ECONOMIC NEWS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER OCOTOBER 5, 
2007 ISSUE 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary.  This is Volume 7, issue 40 of U.S. Embassy 
Pretoria's South Africa Economic News weekly newsletter. 
 
Topics of this week's newsletter are: 
- Trade Deficit Disappoints Market 
- Internet Costs Stifle SAG Open Source Policy 
- Car Sales Decline Again 
- Critic Claims Climate Consciousness Dims at Energy Summit 
- Biofuel Won't Burn Food Prices 
- SARB Transparent Despite Personal Cost 
- Completing the Supply Chain 
- AngloGold Still Optimistic About Fatality-Free Deep-Level Mining 
 
End Summary. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Trade Deficit Disappoints Market 
-------------------------------- 
¶2.  (U) South Africa's trade deficit in August totaled R9.1 billion, 
barely changed from last month and well above forecasts.  The trade 
gap suggests the current account deficit could widen further, 
putting additional pressure on the rand.  Exports rose .8% while 
imports increased .1% compared with July.  The cumulative deficit 
for the calendar year is R50.1 billion, a significant increase over 
the R41.6 billion deficit for the same period last year.  With the 
strength of the rand eroding the appeal of exports and an 
infrastructure plan boosting the need for imports of machinery and 
equipment, South Africa's international trade position "is still 
very weak," according to Efficient Research Economist Nico Kelder. 
(Business Day, October 1, 2007) 
 
----=--------------------------------------- 
Internet Costs Stifle SAG Open Source Policy 
-------------------------------------------- 
¶3. (U) High cost of internet access is stifling South Africa's 
software development industry and thwarting the SAG's open source 
procurement policy and commitment to use locally developed software. 
 According to Linda McDonald, an analyst for Frost and Sullivan, the 
SAG's plan to save million of rands yearly by cutting out annual 
software license fees, boost local skills and create more jobs as 
developers are hired to modify open source software to suit the 
government's needs, is a false hope unless the cost of Internet 
access drops.  Unless developers can spend numerous hours in online 
discussions at an affordable rate, they will not be able to create 
the necessary programs for the SAG's software.  (Business Day, 
September 25, 2007) 
 
----------------------- 
Car Sales Decline Again 
----------------------- 
¶4. (U) New vehicle sales continued their decline, plunging in August 
by 13% compared with August 2006.  This is the biggest fall in 
nearly five years and marks the sixth monthly decline in a row. 
Annual sales year-to-date are down by 3.2%.  In the year to last 
month, sales for passenger cars and commercial vehicles plunged 
14.1% and 11%, respectively.  Heavy commercial vehicles increased, 
reflecting heavy public and private sector spending on 
infrastructure.  Standard Bank Economist Danelee van Dyk estimated 
that South Africa will experience a 5-7% fall in the whole market 
this year.  Higher interest rates, stricter lending criteria and 
strikes in the motor industry have added to the pressures on demand. 
 (Business Day, October 2, 2007) 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Critic Claims Climate Consciousness Dims at Energy Summit 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶5. (U) Johannesburg Earthlife Africa Sustainable Energy and Climate 
Change Project Coordinator Richard Worthington offered a contrarian 
view of the September 25-26 Energy Summit in a Business Day 
editorial on October 3.  The Energy Summit was organized by the SAG 
Department of Energy to engage stake-holders in a reassessment of 
the 1998 national energy policy white paper.  Worthington criticized 
the energy summit for being too focused on security of energy supply 
and set on a significant expansion of coal and nuclear power, 
including an emphasis on coal-to-liquid technology (with significant 
carbon emissions) and "new-fangled and unproven" Pebble Bed Modular 
Reactor technology.  Worthington lamented that the SAG has failed to 
implement the commitment in the 1998 energy policy "to ensure that 
an equitable level of national resources is invested in renewable 
energy technologies" - as reiterated in the Department of Energy 
 
PRETORIA 00003538  002 OF 003 
 
 
paper released at the Summit.  Worthington concluded his editorial 
by criticizing the linkage between minerals and energy. (Business 
Day, October 3, 2007) 
 
------------------------------ 
Biofuel Won't Burn Food Prices 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (U) Department of Energy Chief Director of Clean Energy Sandile 
Tyata said South Africa's commitment to biofuel production would not 
overly burden food prices due to increased demand for corn.  He 
stressed that biofuels would not be a "free-for-all" and there would 
be guidelines and limitations on what could be done when it was 
introduced.  Tyata was responding to cautionary statements that the 
biofuel industry would keep food prices high, and questions about 
the wisdom of using corn and sugar as sources of ethanol as a 
biofuel additive to gasoline.  South African Reserve Bank Governor 
Tito Mboweni noted the risks to food prices in comments in August. 
Tyata said the SAG was finalizing its biofuels strategy, so he could 
not comment on details of the plan.  It is expected that 1.2 billion 
of liters of bioethanol will be produced in South Africa by 2010, 
according to the President of the SA Biofuels Association Andrew 
Makenete, who asserted that the introduction of biofuels would be 
good for the food industry.  (Business Report, October 3, 2007) 
 
-------------------------------------- 
SARB Transparent Despite Personal Cost 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Governor Tito Mboweni 
emphasized the need for SARB transparency in a recent speech in 
Pretoria.  He acknowledged, however, that transparency sometimes has 
a personal cost.  "For instance, we publish the governor's 
compensation package.  The first year we did that people complained 
I earned more than the Finance Minister and the President earned." 
Publication of the package even sparked a shareholder's revolt in 
2003, which led to the replacement of the head of SARB's 
Remuneration Committee.  However, the public outcry was not the 
worst of Mboweni's worries.  "It was particularly a problem for me 
as a divorcee," he told the audience.  "My ex-wife found out how 
much I earned and asked for more maintenance."  (Pretoria News, 
October 2, 2007) 
 
--------------------------- 
Completing the Supply Chain 
--------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) Engineering News previously reported that last year only 9% 
of the 745 million tons per year of freight transported in South 
Africa used rail.  Some 88% of freight transport takes place on the 
country's road infrastructure, exacerbating congestion, accidents, 
and the deterioration of infrastructure.  Council for Scientific and 
Industrial Research (CSIR) supply chain analyst Emma Maspero called 
for greater coordination of the supply chain, including inter-modal 
transfer of containers between road and rail and to and from ports. 
He claimed that more freight carried by rail would generate 
significant savings to the economy.  CSIR is working on a number of 
initiatives with the Transnet National Ports Authority that address 
increasing containerization and aim at increased planning and 
efficiencies.  Current infrastructure development includes deepening 
and widening the entrance channel at the Port of Durban, designing 
and constructing a new port at Ngqura in the Eastern Cape, and 
upgrading the container terminal at the Cape Town Port. 
(Engineering News, October 1, 2007) 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
AngloGold Still Optimistic About Fatality-Free Deep-Level Mining 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶9. (U) Africa's leading gold producer AngloGold Ashanti said on 
Tuesday it believed it was possible to mine at deep levels without 
suffering fatalities, after four of its workers were killed 
following seismic events at its Mponeng mine on Friday.  COO Neville 
Nicolau said it was not a solution to close down the shafts that had 
fatalities, as many people depended on these mines for jobs, a 
sentiment which was shared by labor representatives.  Instead, 
companies like AngloGold Ashanti needed to work with labor and 
government to effect a cultural change that led workers to 
thoroughly understand the reasons for safety, and not just act to 
appease their supervisors.  South Africa has some of the world's 
 
PRETORIA 00003538  003 OF 003 
 
 
deepest gold mines, and their owners have repeatedly come under fire 
from the unions and government for the high fatality rates in these 
mines.  AngloGold Ashanti owned many of these mines and has already 
suffered 23 fatalities so far this year.  (Mining Weekly, October 3, 
2007) 
 
BALL

A lot of the above is not software related but we did not omit it because we usually leave cables untampered with, for context. █

Summary: How US diplomats view negotiations whose goal is to legitimise monopolies in countries that have no interest in these

According to the following year-old cable, specifically in ¶5, “Member States negotiated informally a compromise work program that ensured balanced and focused work for the SCP [Standing Committee on the Law of Patents]. The proposed work program included: 1. further study on technology transfer concerning the relationship of patent technology transfer and innovation; 2. work on limitations and exceptions that included the external expert study and Brazil’s work program proposal; 3. patent administration issues that included work on patent quality management and further work on dissemination of patent information that looked at digitization issues and access to complete patent information; 4. further work on client-attorney privilege to solicit Member State input on national experiences; 5. future conference on public health and food security issues; and 6. reaffirming that the non-exhaustive list of issues for possible discussion by the SCP remain open for further elaboration at the next meeting, but agreeing that Member States would refrain from adding on to the list at this session, so as to ensure that work on the existing studies could be more focused. These items were truly a compromise text, particularly for Group B, as our primary objective to discuss patent harmonization issues was not part of this list and many of the items had more of a developing country interest/slant. On day one of our conversation concerning future work, we reached agreement among Group B countries, GRULAC, Eastern European countries, Singapore, Korea, the regional coordinator of Africa, Angola.”

They are trying to convince developing countries to give up and accept a system which harms them greatly. With our emphasis on the relevant parts, ¶7 carries on by noting that “While Group B and the U.S. were disappointed that the agreement reached the day before did not satisfy all of the Africa Group and the Asia Group, we were willing to negotiate further from our compromise text. However, it became clear that the Africa Group and some Asian Group countries were not willing to move from their position. Group B in particular was willing to add on to the non exhaustive list with the inclusion of “work sharing” and the “strategic use of IP in business” as proposed by the Group of Eastern European Countries. Despite developing countries’ insistence that the non exhaustive list remain open, Indonesia and India opposed the Group B suggestion of “work sharing”, arguing that it was duplicative of work at the PCT working group and that it was patent harmonization-related and therefore not welcomed by developing countries. Further, even though Group B reminded these countries that their proposed suggestions on the list were duplicative of work occurring in the Committee on Development and IP (CDIP), Egypt’s response was that development agenda work in CDIP was a cross-cutting issue throughout the Organization, and therefore duplication was needed.”

Here is the cable in full:

VZCZCXYZ0005
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGV #0136/01 0491710
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181701Z FEB 10
FM USMISSION GENEVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0238
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA
RUEHGV/USMISSION USTR GENEVA

UNCLAS GENEVA 000136 
 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR EEB/IPC, IO/HS, OES 
COMMERCE FOR USPTO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON [Economic Conditions], 
KIPR [Intellectual Property Rights], 
WIPO [World Intellectual Property Organization] 
SUBJECT: Fourteenth Session of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law 
of Patents 
 
¶1. The World Intellectual Property Organization's Standing 
Committee on the Law of Patents (WIPO SCP) continued to discuss 
preliminary studies requested by the SCP in June 2008 and March 
2009, and commenced a discussion on Brazil's proposal concerning 
exceptions and limitations to patent rights.  However, an impasse 
resulted at the SCP on the future work of the committee.  As a 
result, the agenda from this session will be used for the next 
meeting in October 2010.  During two days worth of negotiations on 
the future work topic, it became clear that Member States fail to 
see eye to eye on the international patent system itself, as some 
view the system to be a threat to development and oppose any global 
efforts - whether normative or cooperative technical assistance 
work -- in improving the patent system.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. The WIPO SCP met from January 25-29, 2010.  Delegations from 103 
countries, 10 international organizations and 28 non-governmental 
organizations participated in the Committee which was chaired by 
Mr. Maximiliano Santa Cruz from Chile.  The United States 
delegation was represented by USPTO External Affairs Administrator 
Arti Rai, Charles Eloshway of USPTO, Janet Speck, Deputy Director, 
State Department and Deborah Lashley-Johnson, IP Attach???? at the 
U.S. Mission to the UN. 
 
¶3. Discussions were based on preliminary studies written by the 
International Bureau at WIPO concerning the relationship of 
standards and patents, client-attorney privilege, dissemination of 
patent information, transfer of technology, and opposition systems. 
Many delegations stated that these documents constituted a good 
basis for discussions, and requested further clarifications on 
various issues contained in the documents.  However, certain 
statements made by developing countries and NGO were worrisome, 
such as: equating work on the client-attorney disclosure problem to 
patent law harmonization work; viewing the topic of dissemination 
of patent information to include the disclosure of proprietary 
information and trade secrets; and stating that a study should 
include how the patent system hinders technology transfer. 
 
¶4. The topic of limitations and exceptions was also discussed, 
although the external experts' study was not available for this 
meeting.  A proposal in respect of exceptions and limitations to 
patent rights was submitted by the Delegation of Brazil, which 
received support by many developing countries.  The proposal has 
three phases:  discussion on national experiences on patent right 
exceptions and limitations; focus work on exceptions and 
limitations that help to address developmental concerns; and the 
development of an exceptions and limitations manual.  Other 
delegations, such as the U.S., Switzerland and other industrialized 
countries expressed concern that they had not received the document 
in advance of the meeting, and therefore had insufficient time to 
consider the proposal, and expressed a wish to consider the 
proposal at the following session in October 2010 when the external 
expert study would also be presented.  Nonetheless, the U.S. noted 
that it was interested in studying the issue more and saw strong 
intellectual property rights and enforcement to be consistent with 
proper, basic limitations and exceptions. 
 
¶5.  Gridlock, however, occurred once the committee moved onto the 
topic of future work.  Several regional coordinators and interested 
Member States negotiated informally a compromise work program that 
ensured balanced and focused work for the SCP.  The proposed work 
program included:  1. further study on technology transfer 
concerning the relationship of patent technology transfer and 
innovation; 2. work on limitations and exceptions that included the 
external expert study and Brazil's work program proposal; 3. patent 
administration issues that included work on patent quality 
management and further work on dissemination of patent information 
that looked at digitization issues and access to complete patent 
information; 4. further work on client-attorney privilege to 
solicit Member State input on national experiences; 5. future 
conference on public health and food security issues; and 6. 
reaffirming that the non-exhaustive list of issues for possible 
discussion by the SCP remain open for further elaboration at the 
next meeting, but agreeing that Member States would refrain from 
adding on to the list at this session, so as to ensure that work on 
the existing studies could be more focused.  These items were truly 
a compromise text, particularly for Group B, as our primary 
objective to discuss patent harmonization issues was not part of 
this list and many of the items had more of a developing country 
interest/slant.  On day one of our conversation concerning future 
work, we reached agreement among Group B countries, GRULAC, Eastern 
European countries, Singapore, Korea, the regional coordinator of 
Africa, Angola. 
 
¶6.  However, on day two, Angola, members of the Africa Group, such 
as Egypt and South Africa, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, 
 
 
Yemen, Iran and Indonesia, opposed the compromise text.  Their 
amendments suggested future studies on the negative impacts patents 
have on technology transfer and standards, and a new study on 
patents and public health.  There was also a proposal on the 
establishment of a technology transfer commission to focus on the 
problems of technology transfer.  Their proposal further lacked 
balance in their deletion of the only two issues offered by Group B 
in the initial compromise proposal concerning patent quality 
management and further work on client-attorney privilege.  The 
counter-proposal also included another large conference on patents 
and public policy issues as a follow up to the one held in July 
2009.  Lastly, they pushed to expand the non-exhaustive list to 
include topics such as the impact of the patent system on 
developing countries and LDCs, and the relationship of patents and 
food security. 
 
¶7. While Group B and the U.S. were disappointed that the agreement 
reached the day before did not satisfy all of the Africa Group and 
the Asia Group, we were willing to negotiate further from our 
compromise text.  However, it became clear that the Africa Group 
and some Asian Group countries were not willing to move from their 
position.  Group B in particular was willing to add on to the non 
exhaustive list with the inclusion of "work sharing" and the 
"strategic use of IP in business" as proposed by the Group of 
Eastern European Countries.  Despite developing countries' 
insistence that the non exhaustive list remain open, Indonesia and 
India opposed the Group B suggestion of "work sharing", arguing 
that it was duplicative of work at the PCT working group and that 
it was patent harmonization-related and therefore not welcomed by 
developing countries.  Further, even though Group B reminded these 
countries that their proposed suggestions on the list were 
duplicative of work occurring in the Committee on Development and 
IP (CDIP), Egypt's response was that development agenda work in 
CDIP was a cross-cutting issue throughout the Organization, and 
therefore duplication was needed. 
 
¶8. COMMENT: Group B member states expressed deep concern about the 
events that transpired at this meeting.  Several countries refused 
to negotiate from their maximalist positions, which has been a 
concern in other committees at WIPO.  The inflexibility of 
developing country positions will make reaching a compromise on any 
SCP work program impossible, particularly when this committee has 
had a history of disbanding for three years due to similar 
political impasses.  Further, it is clear that the development 
agenda is the only work these delegations are interested in at the 
expense of issues related to patent law that are important to Group 
B and their constituents.   Targeted demarches to the few countries 
that are blocking progress and preventing the SCP to function are 
being considered.  In addition, Group B will increase its 
coordination to advance its agenda on the various issues before the 
SCP, such as in the areas of technology transfer, limitation and 
exceptions, client-attorney privilege, opposition systems, and 
dissemination of patent information. END COMMENT. 
GRIFFITHS

Next, we are going to look at some EU positions on the subject. █

Summary: A good demonstration of how Microsoft and Gates manage to manage governments by proxy

According to the following Cablegate cable, the Ministry of Investment (MOI) in Egypt is not quite working on its own. “On behalf of MOI,” says ¶6, “Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates launched a website, www.investment.gov.eg in January 2005, to serve as Egypt’s investment portal.”

Since when does Bill govern Egypt or run its economy? There is a lot of other interesting stuff in the cables below, but it is probably of most interest to Egyptians who wish to understand how Mubarak’s regime has harmed them by giving control to imperialists who export weapons (at taxpayers’ expense).

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CAIRO 005350 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/RA, AND EB/IDF 
USAID FOR ANE/MEA MCCLOUD 
USTR FOR SAUMS 
TREASURY FOR MILLS/NUGENT/PETERS 
COMMERCE FOR 4520/ITA/ANESA/TALAAT 
 
E.O.  12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON [Economic Conditions], EFIN [Financial and Monetary Affairs], 
ETRD [Foreign Trade], EINV [Foreign Investments], EG [Egypt] 
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON EGYPT'S PRIVATIZATION PROGRAM 
 
REF:  A.  CAIRO 4374 
      B.  CAIRO 1329 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Since taking office in July 2004, Prime Minister 
Nazif's administration has reinvigorated the GOE's program 
to privatize state-owned industries.  Under the leadership 
of the new Ministry of Investment, the revitalized program 
aims to speed up privatizations by making public enterprises 
more efficient - and thus more attractive to potential 
investors - while also introducing good corporate governance 
principles.  The effort has paid off for the GOE, which 
completed a total of 19 privatizations from July 2004 to 
March 2005, generating LE 2.9 billion ($500 million) 
compared with five transactions generating LE 81 million 
($14 million) in the period July 2003-March 2004.  The GOE 
has promised even bolder steps in the near future for 
divestiture of formerly "strategic" industries.  Labor 
issues remain a concern, but the GOE has indicated that it 
will deal with workers' concerns on a case-by-case basis as 
public companies are privatized.  It is doubtful, however, 
that the GOE would approve any deals that would result in 
massive layoffs, particularly in an election year.  End 
summary. 
 
------------------------- 
Privatization revitalized 
------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The GOE privatization program has undergone a 
complete makeover in concept and implementation in the last 
year under the Nazif administration's new Ministry of 
Investment (MOI).  Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieldin 
has been the driving force behind revitalization of the 
program, which he refers to as "asset management." 
Mohieldin has used his political weight, as a key member of 
the NDP economic policy apparatus, to garner support for 
broadening the scope of the program to include all public 
enterprises, the more competitive companies as well as those 
with large workforces that could be negatively affected by 
privatization.  He has made privatization a focal point of 
the macroeconomic reform effort led by the Minister of 
Finance, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Industry and 
Nazif himself, all of whom agree on the goals of stimulating 
private sector-driven growth and "marketing Egypt" as a 
destination for foreign investment. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
Pre-Nazif: Privatization in fits and starts 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) The GOE has two categories of public enterprises: 
wholly state-owned companies regulated by Law 203 of 1991, 
and joint venture companies (including banks) with a public- 
private ownership mix, regulated by Law 159 of 1981.  When 
the privatization program began, the 314 wholly state-owned 
companies were grouped according to the type of economic 
activity they conducted and put under the supervision of 
holding companies (HCs).  The HCs managed the privatization 
of their affiliate companies, eventually dissolving when all 
of their affiliates had been privatized.  This process 
created a conflict of interest, especially for the HC 
chairmen.  Working efficiently to privatize all of their 
affiliates meant that the HC chairmen worked themselves out 
of a job.  Privatization was therefore a slow, sporadic 
process and after more than a decade of fits and starts, 
liquidations and restructuring, there were still seven HCs 
with 139 affiliate companies. 
 
¶4. (U) In 1999, after a cabinet change, the GOE decided to 
include the sale of public shares in joint venture companies 
under the rubric of the privatization program.  The Ministry 
of Economy and Foreign Trade (now the Ministry of Foreign 
Trade and Industry) began an inventory of joint ventures and 
their shareholder structure.  After a lengthy research 
process, the number of joint venture companies and banks was 
found to exceed 600, all with different percentages of 
public ownership.  In early 2000, the entire privatization 
program, including wholly state owned companies and joint 
ventures, was consolidated under the Ministry of Public 
Enterprises, where it remain until being subsumed by the new 
MOI in the July 2004 cabinet change. 
 
------------------------- 
Privatization under Nazif 
------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) Soon after MOI took over managing the privatization 
program, a three-pronged effort was undertaken to remake 
public enterprises by:  1) restructuring and re-engineering 
public companies to make them more efficient, and ultimately 
more attractive to potential purchasers; 2) implementing 
good corporate governance principles in all public 
companies; and 3) aggressively pursuing the advertisement 
and sale of public companies.  As part of the effort to 
introduce corporate governance principles, MOI published an 
OECD-based code of conduct for corporate governance and 
disclosure in public companies and began publishing the 
minutes of companies' general assembly meetings to increase 
transparency.  MOI also created a ministerial committee to 
assist investors in resolving disputes arising from 
privatization transactions.  The committee has already 
reportedly resolved 18 disputes, including several long- 
standing disputes from privatizations that occurred in the 
pre-Nazif era. 
 
¶6.  (U) MOI also began a campaign to advertise the newly 
revamped privatization program.  The thrust of the ad 
campaign was that the GOE was committed to removing 
obstacles that had blocked or slowed privatizations in the 
past.  Labor and debt issues would be dealt with on a case- 
by-case basis, foreign private sector interest was 
encouraged rather than feared as it had been under previous 
administrations, and no sectors were off-limits or 
"strategic" as in the past.  On behalf of MOI, Microsoft 
Chairman Bill Gates launched a website, 
www.investment.gov.eg in January 2005, to serve as Egypt's 
investment portal.  The GOE then took its investment 
campaign to the May 2005 World Economic Forum in an effort 
to drum up more foreign investment. 
 
¶7.  (U) The result of MOI's efforts has been a rekindling of 
interest among foreign investors.  A list of 41 local and 
international financial institutions, including Citibank, 
Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, are now working with MOI as 
advisors/consultants on privatization.  A number of 
prominent foreign companies - such as Ciments Francais, La 
Farge Titan and Michelin - concluded multi-million dollar 
deals to purchase public companies such as Suez Cement (ref 
B).  From July 2004 to March 2005, the GOE completed 19 
privatizations, generating LE 2.9 billion in revenue, 
compared with only five transactions that generated LE 81 
million in the period July 2003-March 2004.  MOI expects the 
total value of privatizations in fiscal year 2004/2005 to 
exceed LE 3 billion, almost double the aggregate value of 
sales for the period 2001 through June 2004.  The budget for 
fiscal year 2005/2006 (July 2005-June 2006) projects 
revenues from privatization will reach LE 5 billion (ref A). 
 
---------------------- 
Privatization expanded 
---------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) As noted above, MOI has included in the 
privatization program companies that were not previously 
slated for sale.  Prior administrations considered certain 
companies "cash cows" that were too valuable for the GOE to 
sell.  Likewise, certain sectors, such as petrochemicals and 
telecoms, were considered "strategic" and therefore off 
limits to private ownership, especially foreign private 
ownership.  In June MOI sold 20% of the GOE's stake in Sidi 
Krir petrochemical company on the Cairo and Alexandria Stock 
Exchange (CASE) for LE 70/share.  The company's shares have 
dominated trading by volume and value on the CASE in the 
last several weeks and recently closed at LE 105/share.  A 
number of other high profile companies are also in the 
pipeline, including petroleum company AMOC and Eastern 
Tobacco Company (one of the GOE's "cash cows").  MOI has 
also indicated it will offer a significant stake in Telecom 
Egypt by the end of 2005.  Shares of several public 
companies, possibly including Telecom Egypt, will also soon 
be registered on the New York Stock Exchange to further open 
channels for foreign investment.  (Note:  An update on 
privatization in the banking sector will be sent septel. 
End note). 
 
------------ 
Labor issues 
------------ 
¶10.  (SBU) One of the difficult issues for the GOE as it 
divests its public assets is the reaction of labor.  The GOE 
deals with excess labor in companies to be privatized by 
offering early retirement packages, which are largely funded 
by proceeds from privatization.  Senior GOE officials 
continue to provide public reassurances that labor issues 
will be resolved amicably and a safety net will be provided 
for workers affected by privatization, in keeping with the 
GOE's general policy of protection of low-income earners. 
The MOI is working on a new early retirement system designed 
to more closely address workers' concerns and improve the 
financial management of privatization proceeds that will be 
used to fund the early retirements. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Nevertheless, in state-owned enterprises, 
particularly those burdened with surplus manpower like 
textiles, iron, and steel, concerned workers have expressed 
opposition to privatization through their representatives in 
parliament, through strikes and in the opposition press. 
The proposed sale of shares in Suez and Torah Cement 
Companies late last year triggered strikes that were 
resolved only after MOI obtained the purchaser's commitment 
not to lay off workers for three years (ref B).  Mohamed 
Hassouna, Advisor to the Minister on Privatization Affairs, 
told Econoff that MOI is "keeping channels open to workers," 
and cooperating with the Egyptian Trade Union Federation 
(ETUF) on a case-by-case basis to resolve potential problems 
with privatization deals.  It would be surprising, however, 
for the GOE to conclude any deals that risk large-scale 
layoffs from labor-intensive industries prior to Egypt's 
October elections. 
CORBIN

Also see the following Cablegate cable in which ¶9 speaks of Kamel holding a “meeting with USG [US Government] officials and on the Hill, and [how he] also met with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and executives from Intel, Cisco, and Oracle.”

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 CAIRO 005344 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/RA, AND EB/IDF 
USAID FOR ANE/MEA MCCLOUD 
USTR FOR SAUMS 
TREASURY FOR MILLS/NUGENT/PETERS 
COMMERCE FOR 4520/ITA/ANESA/TALAAT 
 
E.O.  12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON [Economic Conditions], EFIN [Financial and Monetary Affairs], 
ETRD [Foreign Trade], EINV [Foreign Investments], ENRG [Energy and Power], 
EWWT [Waterborne Transportation], EG [Egypt] 
SUBJECT: EGYPT MONTHLY ECONOMIC REPORT: MAY-JUNE 2005 
 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  In this edition:  More Egyptian companies make it into 
international emerging market stock indices and the GOE 
signs an S&T agreement with the EU.  The Ministry of 
Communication and Information Technology announces a third 
mobile phone license will be issued and minister Tarek Kamel 
visits the U.S.  Orascom Telecom purchases an Italian 
telecom.  President Mubarak inaugurates a new liquid natural 
gas facility, the Ministry of Petroleum announces new oil 
and gas deals as well as new oil discoveries, and Egypt and 
Israel sign an MOU on gas exports.  Air traffic controls go 
on a "go-slow" strike and Suez Canal revenues increase 18% 
over last fiscal year.  End summary. 
 
-------------------------- 
Macroeconomic Developments 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2.  In mid-May Morgan Stanley International (MSI) announced 
the addition of seven Egyptian companies to its emerging 
markets indices, bring the total number of Egyptian 
companies on MSI indices to seventeen.  MSI increased 
Egypt's weight in its indices, which cover all emerging 
markets, from 0.77% to 0.78%.  The change raises Egypt's 
market capitalization in the MSI indices to $1.22 billion. 
The seven new companies included are EFG-Hermes Holding, 
Egyptian American Bank, Egyptian Financial and Industrial 
Co., Ezz Rebars, Egypt Beni Souef Cement, Olympic Group and 
Sinai Cement.  The companies were chosen based on largest 
private sector ownership, market capitalization and trading 
activity in the Egyptian market.  Other Egyptian companies 
included in the MSI indices include domestic blue chips like 
Commercial International Bank, AlWatany Egyptian Bank, 
Eastern Tobacco, Media Production, EIPICO, Mobinil, Nasr 
City Construction, Misr International Bank, Orascom 
Construction and Orascom Telecom Holding. 
 
---------------------- 
Science and Technology 
---------------------- 
 
¶3.  S&T Conference:  On May 28, PM Nazif opened the First 
National Conference for Scientific Research in Egypt.  About 
4,000 Egyptian scientists and researchers, including 
Egyptian expatriate scientists, and various Cabinet 
ministers attended the two-day event.  The conference 
focused on soliciting feedback from the S&T community on 
development of a new strategy for promoting scientific 
research, services and technology in Egypt.  For the first 
time in recent memory, ministers fielded direct questions 
from working-level Egyptian scientists and listened to their 
opinions on S&T issues.  Minister of Foreign Trade and 
Industry Rashid discussed plans to increase private sector 
funding of R&D projects and Minister of Higher Education and 
Scientific Research Salama noted that his ministry would 
establish a fund to support R&D. 
 
¶4.  The conference produced a series of recommendations to 
shape a new national S&T strategy for Egypt.  The most 
significant decision was to increase the GOE budget 
allocation for scientific research by 10-50%.  The increase 
would include salaries and administrative costs for 
scientific institutions.  The conference action plan will be 
published at the end of July.  (Comment:  PM Nazif's 
commitment to increasing the S&T budget and the presence at 
the conference of reform-minded ministers such as Rashid 
indicates that the GOE is serious about reform in the field 
of scientific research.  Private sector involvement will be 
key, however, and the GOE's ability to attract foreign 
investment in S&T will depend on continued commitment to 
macroeconomic reform.  End comment). 
 
¶5.  EU-Egypt S&T Agreement:  On June 21, PM Nazif attended 
the signing of a new S&T agreement between Egypt and the EU. 
According to Fawzi El Refaei, President of the Egyptian 
Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, the agreement 
aims to expand S&T cooperation and provides for Euro 11 
million in funding for S&T projects.  The agreement allows 
Egyptian scientists and research institutions to apply for 
funding of specific R&R projects from EU sources.  El Refaei 
indicated that funding from this agreement would be 
channelled into areas of development identified in Egypt's 
new S&T strategy. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Telecommunications and Info Tech 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  In mid-May, Minister of Communication and Information 
Technology (MCIT) Tarek Kamel announced that the GOE would 
soon issue a license for a third mobile phone operator.  The 
RFP would be issued in 3-4 months and proposals would be 
reviewed by early 2006, with the goal of getting the third 
operator in place by mid-2007.  Kamel indicated that MCIT 
anticipated LE 2.5 billion in licensing fees from the new 
operator.  The coming RFP would be "technology neutral," 
i.e., either GSM or CDMA.  According to a study by the 
National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA), 
Egypt's mobile market growth rate is currently 12%, but is 
expected to reach 25% within five years. 
 
¶7.  In late May, the Information Technology Industry 
Development Authority (ITIDA) invited Egyptian and 
international firms to apply for e-signature licenses under 
Law 15 of 2004, which regulates e-signatures.  According to 
ITIDA, use of e-signature technology will encourage new 
investment in e-commerce and e-business projects and 
facilitate access to global e-business sectors.  Details of 
the licensing requirements can be found at 
www.itida.gov.eg/csp. 
 
¶8.  Also in late May, Orascom Telecom (OT) announced the 
$130 million sale of its controlling stake in Libertis, a 
GSM company in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and 
Libertis' operator Oasis Telecom.  Also in late May, Naguib 
Sawiris, CEO of OT, announced the purchase of Wind, the 
telecom subsidiary of Italian conglomerate Enel, by the 
newly established "Weather Investments."  Sawiris owns 73.9% 
of Weather Investments and Enel owns the remaining shares. 
OT plans to eventually transfer 51% of its shares to Weather 
Investments.  The total cost of the purchase was Euro 17.2 
billion. 
 
¶9.  MCIT Minister Kamel made his first official visit to the 
U.S. June 18-28.  The delegation included the Chairman of 
NTRA, the President of Telecom Egypt and representatives 
from approximately 20 Egyptian IT firms.  Kamel held meeting 
with USG officials and on the Hill, and also met with 
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and executives from Intel, 
Cisco, and Oracle.  The visit led to establishment of a U.S.- 
Egypt IT consultative council.  Kamel also witnessed the 
signing of several business deals, including a $5 million 
agreement between Egypt's QuickTel and Qualcom to service 
wireless networks in Egypt.  The minister also announced 
that NTRA would soon issue licensing terms for Voice-over 
Internet Protocol (VoIP) service in Egypt. 
 
------ 
Energy 
------ 
 
¶10.  On May 30, President Mubarak inaugurated the liquefied 
natural gas (LNG) plant at the Mediterranean Gas Complex in 
Damietta.  The LNG facility is owned and operated by the 
Spanish Egyptian Gas Company (SEGAS), which is 80% owned by 
Union Fenosa Gas (50% Union Fenosa of Spain and 50% ENI of 
Italy), and 20% owned by Egyptian State Holding Companies. 
The $1.3 billion facility was built by a joint venture of 
Halliburton KBR, JGC Corporation of Japan, and Tecnicas 
Reunidas of Spain.  The output of the facility, 5.5 mt/yr, 
has already been committed for the next 25 years.  The 
Mediterranean Gas Complex near Damietta is a joint 
investment between the Italian AGIP and British Petroleum. 
 
¶11.  In mid-June, Petroleum Minister Fahmi announced that 
the GOE had signed 36 new oil and gas exploration agreements 
over the last year for a total investment of $250 million. 
The agreements will result in the drilling of 55 new wells 
in the Western Desert, the Nile Delta, and off the 
Mediterranean coast and Gulf of Suez.  Foreign investors in 
the agreements include British Gas, Malaysian Petronas, 
International Egyptian Oil Company (an Italian subsidiary of 
AGIP) and Apache.  Announcement of the new exploration 
agreements was followed by three new oil discoveries in late 
June.  The largest was at Ras Gharib-Amr, a 50-year-old oil 
field in the Gulf of Suez, 2 km offshore.  The discovery was 
the first at Ras Gharib-Amr in the last 40 years.  The 
second discovery was at El Tamad, approximately 90 km 
northeast of Cairo.  This was the first on-shore oil 
discovery in the northern Nile Delta region.  The third 
discovery was at El Diyur in Egypt's Western Desert.  Total 
reserves from the new discovery were estimated at 70 million 
barrels of crude oil. 
 
¶12.  Egypt-Israel Gas Agreement:  On June 30, Fahmi signed 
an MOU with Israeli National Infrastructures Minister 
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, clearing the way for a long-awaited 
$2.5 billion commercial gas deal between Eastern 
Mediterranean Gas (EMG) and the Israeli state-owned 
Electrical Company (IEC).  While the commercial details 
remain to be determined, EMG will export approximately 25 
billion cubic meters of gas over 15 years from the Egyptian 
port of El Arish to the port of Askalon in Israel.  EMG is 
an Egyptian-registered company 25% owned by Israel's Merhav 
Group.  Egyptian businessman Hussein Salem owns another 65% 
of EMG and the Egyptian Gas Holding Company owns the 
remaining 10%. 
 
¶13.  The MOU provides a "political umbrella" for the 
commercial agreement, and commits the GOE to providing gas 
to EMG and the GOI to providing tax exemptions for equipment 
and materials.  Completion of the project is expected to 
take two years.  Announcement of the MOU was coordinated 
with announcement of cooperation between the GOE and the 
Palestinian Authority on gas exports.  Headlines of some 
opposition papers tried to portray the MOU as an attempt to 
appease the USG and deflect pressure for further political 
and democratic reform. 
 
-------- 
Aviation 
-------- 
 
¶14.  In early May, Egyptian air traffic controllers went on 
a "go-slow" strike, their second in the span of two months, 
to protest the Ministry of Civil Aviation's penalization of 
8 air traffic controllers for delays at Sharm El Sheikh 
airport.  The Association of Egyptian Air Traffic 
Controllers threatened to bring air traffic to a total halt 
if the penalties were not lifted.  Controllers also demanded 
a doubling of salaries over three years, better health 
insurance and better promotion opportunities.  The strike 
ended after Minister of Civil Aviation Shafik promised to 
look into the strikers' demands for better pay and 
conditions.  Aviation officials indicated that the 
controllers conducted the go-slow in line with International 
Civil Aviation Organization standards, but failed to 
announce the go-slow to the airlines in advance.  Unofficial 
reports indicated that losses from the go-slow amounted to 
$31 million. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Suez Canal and Maritime Transport 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶15.  In early May, the Suez Canal Authority indicated that 
revenues from Suez Canal tolls during FY 2004/2005 would 
exceed $3.2 billion, compared to $2.82 billion during FY 
2003/2004.  During the first 9 months of FY 2004/2005 (July 
2004- March 2005), revenues increased by $369 million to 
$2.446 million, up 18% from the previous year.  A recent 
study by the Ministry of Transportation indicated that total 
revenue from port facilities, excluding customs, duties and 
taxes, increased in 2004 by 25% to L.E. 2.24 billion. 
 
------------------- 
Economic Statistics 
------------------- 
 
¶16. 
 
Exchange Rate: 
                              (05/31/05)        (06/30/05) 
Egyptian Pounds/$             Buying Selling Buying Selling 
Avg. Bank/Bureau Rate         578.79 581.22  578.24 580.84 
 
Capital Market: 
                               (05/31/05)       (06/30/05) 
Capital Markets Authority Index 1644             1789 
Hermes Financial Index          36344            41772 
EFG Index                       19599            22692 
 
Interest Rates: 
(percent, monthly comparison) 
 
Interbank Overnight              9.49            9.55 
T-bills (182 days)               9.88            8.39 
T-Bond (maturing 01/06)          4.15            4.15 
T-Bond (maturing 04/09)          5.50            5.50 
 
Foreign Reserves: 
(US $ billion, official gov't figures) 
 
 (04/2005)      (05/2005) 
  18.470    18.712

Egyptian companies would be better off integrating Free/open source packages that not only help create jobs in Egypt but also give the country more control of its own. █

Summary: A cable explaining Microsoft’s affairs with the Algerian government

THE FOLLOWING Cablegate cable is from almost 4 years ago and it helps complete this other insulting cable from in Algeria.

VZCZCXRO2537
RR RUEHTRO
DE RUEHAS #1581/01 3030607
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 300607Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY ALGIERS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4760
INFO RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 2384
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1738
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 8660
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT 1990
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 6841
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT 6077
RUEHNM/AMEMBASSY NIAMEY 1332
RUEHBP/AMEMBASSY BAMAKO 0280
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 3105
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 001581 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON [Economic Conditions], EINV [Foreign Investments], ETRD [Foreign Trade], KIPR [Intellectual Property Rights], AG [Algeria] 
 
SUBJECT:  (MICRO)SOFT DIPLOMACY, VERSION 1.0 
 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer paid a brief visit to 
Algeria in a trip touted as an opportunity for Microsoft to help the 
GOA expand Algeria's information and communications technology (ICT) 
sector and enhance its education system.  Ballmer said he was 
inspired by the GOA's commitment to technology development and by 
the potential for market growth in Algeria.  ICT insiders suggested 
that the CEO visited Algeria in an effort to enhance Microsoft's 
government relations, and to signal that its recently reorganized 
business unit is serious about this market.  Meanwhile, firms are 
optimistic about the ICT sector in Algeria, but are skeptical about 
whether Microsoft can effectively expand its software marketing 
here, or expect to make any progress combating piracy.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) In a whirlwind visit on October 3, Ballmer met with President 
Bouteflika and several ministers to discuss the development of the 
technology sector in Algeria, the use of IT start-up companies as a 
means to energize the Algerian economy, and access to computers in 
Algeria's schools.  Ballmer later told a group of Microsoft partner 
firms that the greatest growth potential for the ICT industry lies 
in emerging markets like Algeria, where ICT structures can be 
expanded to tap into significant populations hungry for access to 
Web-based entertainment and educational services.  (Note: 7.3 
percent of the Algerian population has access to the Internet, 
compared to a 0.2 percent penetration rate in 2000, according to 
recent data compiled by the International Telecommunication Union. 
End note.)  Ballmer said that he came to Algeria to evaluate his 
local team's recommendations for expansion, which he will consider 
in early 2008.  He told the industry group that he was "inspired by 
the president's thoughtfulness toward the future," and that he saw 
potential growth across all economic sectors. 
 
BUT STILL, WHY COME TO ALGERIA? 
------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Microsoft recently split its regional marketing division 
and created the Microsoft Algeria business unit.  Because of the 
terrorist activity in Algeria in the 1990s, Microsoft established 
its North African headquarters in Morocco, which local IT 
representatives and former Microsoft employees say the GOA never 
forgave.  Ballmer's visit to Algeria appeared timed to show 
corporate support for the new Algerian unit's government relations 
efforts, and an attempt to relieve past tensions between the GOA and 
Microsoft. 
 
HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL, BUT SO DO CLONES AND PIRATES 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Industry representatives told Econoff that they were 
optimistic about the near-term future of the ICT sector in Algeria. 
Abdelaziz Ben Aissa, the general manager of a certified Microsoft 
business solutions firm, said that the GOA seems focused on ICT 
issues and opportunities are expanding.  Ben Aissa's firm provides 
support services for Northrop Grumman information systems.  He works 
extensively with the Algerian federal police, with whom he expects 
more contracts to support expanding communications and information 
systems.  Djamal Hadjout, the information services director of an 
Algerian wholesaler representing a number of leading American 
computer periphery brands, said business is generally growing and 
that retailers are finding new customers among both Algerian 
corporate and individual consumers.  He noted that American products 
continue to be associated with quality and prestige but are 
considered expensive. 
 
¶5. (U) IT representatives were at the same time skeptical that 
Microsoft will be able to raise significantly its stake in the 
Algerian consumer software market or to combat piracy effectively 
because of the relatively high price of its products and the 
continued weakening of Algerians' buying power.  They said that most 
personal computers sold to households are clones assembled in 
Algeria, and that most people buy pirated copies of operating 
systems like Windows and other software applications for as little 
as two dollars.  Further, according to recent news reports, 
electronics represents the second-largest category of goods smuggled 
into Algeria (after cigarettes), and overall customs seizures of 
contraband rose significantly throughout 2007.  Given Algeria's 
rising cost of living and high unemployment rate, the ICT 
representatives saw little hope that Microsoft will be able to 
counter these IPR challenges anytime soon.  Ballmer was asked about 
this dilemma, but gave only a general response about his company's 
 
ALGIERS 00001581  002 OF 002 
 
 
commitment to finding innovative solutions to specific markets and 
his confidence that the GOA will move in a positive direction 
regarding ICT use and development in Algeria. 
 
¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: Ballmer's visit, along with the recent creation of 
Microsoft Algeria, likely went a long way to meeting Microsoft's 
government relations goals.  Some in the business world interpreted 
President Bouteflika's overt hospitality to a corporate leader as a 
sign that the GOA is serious about its stated intent to build out 
Algeria's ICT sector, improve the country's education system through 
access to technology, and see that every Algerian family has a 
computer at home.  Nonetheless, the challenges of contraband 
hardware and pirated software remain significant as the high cost of 
living continues to influence not only consumer decisions regarding 
brand preference and when to buy, but also the choice between 
licensed, cloned or pirated goods. 
 
FORD

This is the perspective of US diplomats. They ignore all the critics of these affairs, as one might expect (sometimes, as we have shown before using other cables, critics are comped to “conspiracy theorists”). █

Summary: A look at how Microsoft representatives describe GNU/Linux behind the scenes

THE scandal of Microsoft in Tunisia has received a lot of press attention. It now has a detailed Wikipedia page about it. Techrights looked into several other cables from Tunisia and found the following Cablegate cable which says: “Microsoft gave the example of PC procurement, in which the GOT procurement commission does not specify an operating system in their RFPs. This results in the PCs being shipped with the Linux,s open source operating system, which does not support Microsoft software. The Microsoft representative argued that this has encouraged piracy and resulted in GOT PCs using pirated Microsoft software. She continued that the fact that the EU Commission and the African Development Bank accept these GOT procurement laws only encourages the GOT to maintain government procurement on lowest cost basis.”

To Microsoft, “Linux” and “piracy” are interchangeable. Microsoft wants officials to believe that nothing except Windows can ever be used. Here is the cable in its entirety.

VZCZCXYZ0002
PP RUEHWEB
DE RUEHTU #1286/01 2640644
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 210644Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY TUNIS
TO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3899
INFO RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 0928

UNCLAS TUNIS 001286
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EEB (DIBBLE), NEA/MAG (HOPKINS AND HARRIS)
STATE PASS USTR (BURKHEAD)
USDOC FOR (VINEYARD AND MASON), ADVOCACY CTR (JAMES),
USDOC PASS USPTO (ADAMS, BROWN AND MARSHALL)
CAIRO FOR FINANCIAL ATTACHE (SEVERENS)
LONDON AND PARIS FOR NEA WATCHER
EB/CBA (WINSTEAD), EB/TRA/AN(FINSTON),
CASABLANCA FOR FCS (ORTIZ)
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON [Economic Conditions], EFIN [Financial and Monetary Affairs], ETRD [Foreign Trade], TS [Tunisia]
SUBJECT: TUNISIA: US BUSINESSES BRIEF ECONOMIC DELEGATION
ON BUSINESS CLIMATE
REF: A. TUNIS 1249
B. TUNIS 1261
-------
Summary
-------
¶1. (SBU) During the September 9-12 visit of an interagency
business delegation (reftels), EEB PDAS Dibble met with
representatives from a cross-section of US businesses
currently operating in Tunisia to discuss the business
climate in general and the issues that impede their
operations. PDAS Dibble gave an overview of the
delegation's meetings with the GOT and the unique nature of
this delegation. She indicated that the primary purpose of
this visit was to push the GOT for improvements in the
investment climate and to discuss the way forward in the
US/Tunisia bilateral economic relationship. Department of
Commerce DAS Holly Vineyard outlined the IPR points that were
presented to GOT representatives from all relevant ministries
attending the delegation's meeting with the Minister of
Development and International Cooperation. USTR Director for
European and Middle Eastern Trade Affairs, Paul Burkhead
outlined the Trade Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) and
the USG's objective of an eventual Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
between the United States and Tunisia. US companies said
that Tunisia is a central location for entering other
markets, but bureaucracy and lack of transparency hinder
their expansion. End Summary.
-----------------------------
What Tunisia has Going for It
-----------------------------
¶2. (SBU) Nearly all of the US business representatives
agreed that Tunisia is an attractive base from which to
target and serve the Mahgreb, European, and Sub-Saharan
African markets. They emphasized that the business climate
is improving and the mobility and quality and talent of
available human resources is above average. Tunisian
employees are highly educated and interested in learning new
technologies. The US IT firms represented opined that
Tunisian interest in new technologies presents an opportunity
to sell and to install the latest technologies. Business
representatives also said that the comparatively favorable
cost of labor also makes Tunisia an attractive venue for
investment.
--------------------------------
Frustrating Impediments to Trade
--------------------------------
¶3. (SBU) While Tunisia has many good qualities, it is the
domestic impediments to operating a business in Tunisia that
have some US businesspeople thinking twice about investing in
or expanding their investment in Tunisia. Issues raised
included a lack of transparency and predictability, lack of
access to the local market, GOT procurement laws, limits on
the number of expatriate employees permitted in country, visa
issues, the slowness and arbitrarily high price of internet
service, and the language barrier.
-------------------------------
Transparency and Predictability
-------------------------------
¶4. (U) Company representatives explained that GOT
decision-making is extremely slow and there is no central
contact for a company to approach and receive a definitive
answer to their particular concerns. Information on upcoming
projects or tenders is also difficult to obtain and major
projects are often pre-awarded before a tender becomes
public. One US representative stated that the lack of
predictability affected his ability to do long-term business
planning/forecasting. Participants noted that, because US
businesses forecast based on risk, the lack of predictability
in Tunisia makes them more reticent to invest.
--------------------------------------------- -------------
Access to the Local Market & Government Procurement Policy
--------------------------------------------- -------------
¶5. (U) In general, the GOT seldom permits foreign businesses
to compete on the local market but instead encourages FDI in
the off-shore and manufacturing for export sectors. US
companies told PDAS Dibble that establishing a subsidiary
branch in Tunisia is not cost-effective unless they are
allowed to compete on the local market. There are several US
companies who have been authorized to compete on the local
market. They admitted that it was neither easy nor quick to
obtain such permission, but indicated that GOT ministers are
open to hearing about specific proposals. Further, if a
company can demonstrate the benefits of its
projects/products, the relevant ministers can obtain
authorizations to compete on the local market. Several of
the high tech companies said that the product registration
and certification process is extremely long and must be
conducted for each reseller. In order to simplify this
process, they would like to see a homologation law passed
which would authorize registration and certification on a per
product basis.
¶6. (SBU) Companies also complained that the GOT government
procurement law and policy, which is based on lowest price
rather than best quality, excludes them from competing in the
marketplace. A Prime Ministry commission controls
procurement and, instead of requiring that a product meet
certain specifications or technical standards, its requests
for proposals (RFPs) always go for the lowest priced product.
US companies selling quality products cannot compete on a
price basis. Microsoft gave the example of PC procurement,
in which the GOT procurement commission does not specify an
operating system in their RFPs. This results in the PCs
being shipped with the Linux,s open source operating system,
which does not support Microsoft software. The Microsoft
representative argued that this has encouraged piracy and
resulted in GOT PCs using pirated Microsoft software. She
continued that the fact that the EU Commission and the
African Development Bank accept these GOT procurement laws
only encourages the GOT to maintain government procurement on
a lowest cost basis.
-----------------------
Authorized Expatriates
-----------------------
¶7. (SBU) Tunisian law currently allows foreign companies to
obtain visas for only four expatriate employees at any given
time, but companies report that this number can be increased
on a case-by-case basis. (Note: GOT officials had indicated
to EmbOffs last year that the law was going to be updated to
allow 10 expatriates per company, but this has not yet been
implemented. End Note.) This limitation on expatriates is a
problem for US companies particularly when they are initially
starting up their operations in Tunisia. For example,
Parsons Corporation, a major US engineering firm currently
considering investing in Tunisia, said that this restriction
would present a problem. The Parsons representative argued
that his company has a quality product to deliver and an
excellent reputation to maintain. Thus, if it were to invest
in Tunisia, Parsons would need to bring in a minimum of 12
expatriate Parsons engineers per project. The GOT has told
Parsons that the number of expatriates allowed is negotiable,
but the company would prefer that the law be repealed, so
that there would be not uncertainty. Most US companies
present concurred. Similarly, US companies mentioned that
their ability to provide quality services to their clients
was impeded by the difficulty some of their expatriate staff
face in obtaining visas to enter Tunisia on a temporary basis
in order to train Tunisian employees or to provide expertise
on a particular project.
---------------
Internet Access
---------------
¶8. (U) US companies said that 95 percent of business today
is conducted over the Internet. Thus, reliable and
cost-effective Internet access was paramount to their
success. Most of the companies present at the roundtable
complained about the slow speed of Internet connections in
Tunisia and the high cost of dedicated leased lines between
two points. Another issue related to Internet access was
GOT's encryption requirement that all encryption keys must be
provided to the National Digital Encryption Agency (ANCE).
Providing such information was described as a nonstarter by
US companies providing services where protection of fiscal or
personal data was critical. While most companies indicated
that they could find ways around this requirement, they
nonetheless argued that the encryption key requirement should
be abolished.
--------
Language
--------
¶9. (U) Several participants raised English language
capabilities of the Tunisian work force as an important
factor when considering whether to set up business operations
in Tunisia. Acknowledging that most US company executives
are not multi-lingual and conduct business in English, all
companies said that English language capability was a
necessary element to allow the Tunisian subsidiary management
to effectively communicate with its employees and with its US
headquarters. Several Tunisian nationals representing US
companies noted, however, that the GOT recognizes the
importance of English and has made efforts to address this
issue. They pointed out that Tunisian schools now encourage
English language study from the primary to the university
level.
-------
Comment
-------
¶10. (SBU) Although the business roundtable was a late
addition to the economic delegation,s program, it proved to
be an excellent opportunity for all. Members of the
delegation were able to learn first-hand about the benefits
achieved and drawbacks faced by US businesses in Tunisia. At
the same time, US businesses were able to learn about USG
advocacy for an improved business climate in Tunisia. The
general consensus drawn from this discussion seems to be that
despite the shortcomings, US companies investing in Tunisia
have made the right decision. End Comment.
¶11. (SBU) This cable has been cleared by EEB/PDAS Dibble.
GODEC

Worth noting is the part which says: “Business representatives also said that the comparatively favorable cost of labor also makes Tunisia an attractive venue for investment.”

This is how they value people, eh? █

Summary: Algeria is being pressured by US diplomats at the behest of Microsoft Corporation

MICROSOFT AND its own bully, the BSA, are taking on large nations behind the scenes, using bogus data and weak claims (that usage is a lost sale) to portray itself as a victim and then pressure governments to: 1) pay Microsoft for shoddy software they do not need and 2) indoctrinate the population and government employees so that they become dependent on Microsoft in the long run.

The following Cablegate cable shows Microsoft’s modus operadi:

VZCZCXRO1615
PP RUEHTRO
DE RUEHAS #0190 0501757
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191757Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY ALGIERS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5286
INFO RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 2555
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 0997
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 8809
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT 2173
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 7025
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT 6228
RUEHNM/AMEMBASSY NIAMEY 1474
RUEHBP/AMEMBASSY BAMAKO 0423
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 3261
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
UNCLAS ALGIERS 000190 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS TO USTR - PBURKHEAD 
COMMERCE FOR NMASON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, BEXP, KIPR, ETRD, AG 
SUBJECT: MICROSOFT'S IPR WOES 
 
REF: 07 ALGIERS 1581 
 
THIS CABLE CONTAINS COMPANY PROPRIETARY INFORMATION NOT TO BE 
SHARED OUTSIDE USG. 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: During a February 19 meeting, Microsoft 
Algeria Director General Samir Said outlined Microsoft's 
priorities for Algeria and underscored the negative impact 
weak intellectual property rights (IPR) protection is having 
on Microsoft's financial bottom line and growth potential. 
Said estimated that Microsoft is losings tens of millions of 
dollars each year to software piracy in Algeria and argued 
that the Algerian government has not demonstrated the 
political will to enforce IPR.  Said stated that, in addition 
to antipiracy efforts, Microsoft's main priorites are to 
continue working with the Algerian government (its largest 
customer in Algeria), to recruit qualified employees, and to 
revive partnerships with Algerian ICT companies.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (SBU) Microsoft Algeria DG Samir Said lamented that the 
Algerian government is not taking stronger action to prevent 
software piracy and argued that the situation had worsened 
during 2007.  According to a Business Software Alliance 
Survey, the rate of software piracy increased slightly from 
2006 to 2007, from 84 percent to 85 percent. Said stated that 
"losses are huge" and asserted that Microsoft is losings tens 
of millions of dollars each year.  Said estimated that a 10 
percent reduction in software piracy -- from the current 
estimate of 85 percent to 75 percent -- would yield an 
additional 25 million USD in annual profits. 
 
3. (SBU) Said emphasized that Algeria is an important market 
for Microsoft and that there is clear potential here if the 
Algerian government provides greater support for IPR 
protection.  While he noted that there is a trend towards 
purchasing licensed software in government ministries, 
licenses have only been purchased as part of new system 
purchases and many ministries continue to use unlicensed 
software on previously purchased computers.  Said stated that 
he is not seeing any will to enforce IPR protection in terms 
of software licensing.  He told us that none of the estimated 
50 to 60 thousand home personal computers sold as part of the 
Algerian government's "Ousratic" initiative to expand home 
PC-ownership were sold with Microsoft-licensed software. 
Although Microsoft informed the Minister of Communications 
Technology of this breach, Said said that the government has 
not taken any action to enforce compliance.  During the 
October visit of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (reftel), the 
Algerian government promised to address enforcement, but Said 
stated he had seen no change since then.  He added that he 
often hears the argument that Microsoft must give a "good 
price," but in the end licensed software will always be more 
expensive than the pirated version. 
 
4. (SBU) Said stated that, in addition to antipiracy efforts, 
Microsoft Algeria's main priorities are to continue working 
with the Algerian government, recruit qualified employees, 
and revive partnerships with Algerian ICT companies.  Between 
ministries and state-owned enterprises, the government 
remains Microsoft's largest customer in Algeria and Microsoft 
will continue to work with it despite IPR concerns.  Said 
echoed an oft-heard complaint in saying that he is unable to 
find qualified employees among recent graduates.  Although 
there are nearly 2500 graduates with degrees in ICT, 
according to Said, there are few who have the skills required 
to be competitive in the job market.  Microsoft Algeria is 
also interested in partnering with Algerian ICT companies to 
help promote local software development; however, Said noted 
that this goal is dependent upon improved IPR protection. 
 
5. (SBU) COMMENT: Serious antipiracy efforts in Algeria are 
critical not only for Microsoft but for Algeria's economy 
writ large.  Although the Algerian government has stated its 
intent to develop the local ICT sector, rising rates of 
software piracy will do little to encourage the necessary 
investment or technology transfer.  The Embassy's Special 301 
Review (septel) will address the Algerian government's 
overall IPR protection efforts. 
FORD 

That last part is very typical and it is seen in many cables. Microsoft is trying to say that if the government pays Microsoft a lot of money, then opportunities will open up for the nation. That’s a just load of propaganda, injected by public officials at the behest of Microsoft. █