Comments on: Cablegate: “The Free Software Movement is Building Support Within the Government of Brazil and Throughout Brazil”

By: twitter

twitter — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:10:48 +0000

Our democracy is sick and needs help. People need to talk to each other more and stop listening to broadcast media. They also need to vote. That way, they will be better informed and make the right choices.

By: Agent_Smith

Agent_Smith — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:16:40 +0000

It’s very sad when one sees governments acting like thugs for criminal companies. Not just M$, but also Monsanto. I live in Rio Grande do Sul, and Monsanto’s GMO spread like a plague over here. Worse, it makes food more expensive, and, the effects on human beings, in the long run, no one knows.
In other subject, these subservient governments give democracy a bad name, since they don’t act in their people’s best interests, but in the best interests of their funders(the aforementioned criminal companies).
Shame on you, US of A, land of the fee and home of the slave.

By: twitter

twitter — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 16:08:28 +0000

I see now that IPR actually stands for “intellectual property regime”, an expansion that makes a lot more sense than “intellectual property rights”. Phrases like,

Widespread recognition of the harm caused by IPR abuse to Brazilian artists, tax revenues, and technological progress/industrial development has increased, due in part to successful public awareness campaigns launched by both the private and public sectors.

suddenly have new meaning.
On an another note, there’s a lot more than shame to trade restrictions. There’s real financial loss and business pain. It’s criminal that free software use was included in the criteria for punishment. All the shame is on the US for allowing foreign and trade policy to be manipulated by big publishers like Microsoft at the expense of other US companies, everyone’s liberty and US reputation. The purposes of the sanctions list are blatantly anti-competitive.