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The Internet Government The Courts News

Public Interest Groups Face Uphill Battle at WIPO Meeting 116

Posted by michael from the quit-your-yappin' dept.
Patrick Norager writes "As WIPO creates new rights for broadcasters, documents critical of these rights created by EFF and IP Justice were stolen and recovered in a bathroom trashcan." EFF has a general statement on the meeting with links for more information.
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Public Interest Groups Face Uphill Battle at WIPO Meeting More

Public Interest Groups Face Uphill Battle at WIPO Meeting

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  • It's a "downhill battle" (Score:3, Insightful)

    by CyberThalamus ( 822198 ) * on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:24PM (#10868095)
    One group fighting music IP is called the downhill battle. All this pessimism can really get to you until you realize that these laws will ultimately fail. It's like trying to stop a waterfall. Check out infoanarchy.org for a view on how things will really turn out.

    And cynics are, as a group, highly redundant and unoriginal.

  • Guard the Table, EFF! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mfh ( 56 ) on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:25PM (#10868108) Homepage Journal
    Both yesterday and again today, written statements provided by IP Justice and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which were placed on the table designated for floor papers, were stolen within minutes of being deposited on the table. Additionally yesterday documents provided by the Union for the Public Domain were also missing shortly after being placed on the table.
    I find these tactics to be what I would expect from the thug-like governments and greedy corporations; they can't secure with truth and justice what they can secure with theivery and wickedness. Not all companies would condone this kind of behaviour, but it is becoming evident that the amoral progress towards global capitalism are shattering our freedoms... freedoms our forefathers fought and died to protect... freedoms our nations were built upon. I find these recent criminal actions to be very enlightening, in turn, that the very message protecting our rights for programming and developmental freedoms, was forced to place a guard at the table.

    The guard at the table, protecting the documents to be heard at WIPO, seems to be a good image, but also a telling image. How long will it be before we can no longer place a guard at the table? How long before justice itself is patented by some company?
    The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will be there to urge delegates to reject aspects of the treaty that would impoverish the public domain and thwart innovation.
    Guard the table oh great EFF! I will continue to write, program and design anything I want to, IP bullshit [slashdot.org] be damned!!!
    • This is exactly the sort of thing the second amendment was created for.

      • Re:Guard the Table, EFF! (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        This is exactly the sort of thing the second amendment was created for.
        Strangely I have to agree with you here, and I deplore guns.

      • Re:Guard the Table, EFF! (Score:2, Informative)

        by kk49 ( 829669 )
        Don't worry the UN will close this individual rights "loophole"
        http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTI CLE_ID=17276 [worldnetdaily.com]
        This article is old, but this is still going on.
        • No resolution from the UN will ever trump the 2nd amendment. And remember if they take away the 2nd Amendment we have a lot of angry people with guns.
        • Hello crazy. The US already complies (more-or-less) with what the Security Council recommended. In the US, small arms are not a threat to political stability; in the US the state does regulate the market up to a point (so that people can't own crazy weaponry, but you knew this). Despite the comments of one 'unnamed source' this is a total non-story in the US, as evidenced by the fact that the US supports all the recommendations.

      • Re:Guard the Table, EFF! (Score:5, Funny)

        by Profane MuthaFucka ( 574406 ) <busheatskok@gmail.com> on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:55PM (#10868538) Homepage Journal
        I'm in favor of an additional ammendment, numbered '1.5'. Basically, if someone denies your right to speech, you have the right to punch them in the face until they stop infringing on your right to free speech.

        It would honor the spirit of both the first and the second ammendments, and because it's an intermediate step for those who might not have or disagree with guns, it's more accessible. And the 2nd would remain untouched, so those who don't find ammendment 1.5 to be useful or satisfying could just ignore it.

        • That takes power from the "98 lbs weakling", giving it to the bodybuilders. In a non-gun fight where both individuals are equal in training and equipment the heavier guy will win.

          The great thing about guns is virtually every adult can use them. One shot and the bad guy is dead, and it doesn't matter who is bigger and heavier. It doesn't matter if you use a "small" .30, or a "big" .50 or more, dead is dead.

          I see your point, but it fails to work because the "98lbs weakling" cannot afford to use it. T

          • The bad thing about guns is that they are hard to use - the person that aims best will win!

            The great thing about nuclear bombs are that even if you aim bad it will probably kill the target.

            So more WMD to the poeple!

            • Depends on the gun and the range. At 1 mile only the very best can get a hit, and even then luck is involved. (weather is a major factor) At 5 yards or less you just have to be pointed in the right direction and you are likely to hit a human target. If your scope is good (pre set at a range) on a rifle you should be able to kill a human at 200 yards.

              If you are shooting someone at more than 5 yards it is not self defense. It might be justified, but it is not self defense.

    • Re:Guard the Table, EFF! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by egarland ( 120202 ) on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:57PM (#10868566)
      ..but it is becoming evident that the amoral progress towards global capitalism are shattering our freedoms..

      This is not capitalism. Capitalism requires a system of supports and limits to keep it functioning properly. There are many roads companies can take out of capitalist competition and in order for a capitalist economy to work properly these roads must be controlled. These routes out of competition include monopoly, government corruption, poisoning of competition, displacement of expenses as well as many others. We've left these roads open and now companies that abused, lied, cheated, and bought the system are the winners. This is a horrible thing and has resulted in generations of businessmen who think that's the right way to do business instead of simply delivering the best product to the consumer you can.

      Reforming this system will require us to reign in these rogue non-competing companies and limit their power. Is there an anti-corruption PAC that I could join that would tell me who of my representatives is taking money in exchange for favorable laws and would support their opponent?

      • Two places to start (Score:1, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        ...would be an organization known as Transparency International http://www.transparency.org/ [transparency.org]; another would be Junior Chamber International http://www.jci.cc/ [www.jci.cc] (for the 18-40 crowd). The two organizations recently signed an agreement to collaborate their efforts.
      • I'm not sure that this is exactly what you are looking for, but you can start at OpenSecrets.org.

        http://www.opensecrets.org/ [opensecrets.org]
      • ...one of the latest additions to their arsenal: business method/software patents.

        One of the more repugnant aspects of laws that allow the kinds of abuse we've seen is that if they are allowed to continue for any length of time, correcting it is next to impossible, since it will entail fighting the massive numbers of entrenched interests that have been allowed to accumulate. A trained monkey can create horrible, even destructive legal policy. Cleaning up the mess...well, that will require more than we can
        • Let's not forget that WE, as consumers, as humans capable of exercising various degress of discipline, hold the key as to whether or not ANY of these policies and/or practices will survive.

          No no no! Watch the South Park about Wallmart for a good humorous discussion of that topic. When people shop they act in their best interest, as they should. Trying to do inject some sort of ethics at the cash register is WAY too late and rarely effective.

          The real power to fix these issues lies in our ability to vot
          • That's where the real power of the vote lies. Corporations know this. They wield that power to amazing effect.

            How is that, exactly? I could be wrong about this, but I was under the impression that corporations don't vote.

            • Corporations do vote - every time someone writes a fat check in the form of a bri^H^H^H campaign contribution. The number of and size of these contributions determine how much media penetration a candidate can expect, and this, I'd argue, has at least some impact on the way people cast their votes. All this corporate money is exactly the reason that the campaign finance reform is so vitally necessary. When you think of a candidate spending more than a hundred million dollars to get re-elected, something is
          • When people shop they act in their best interest, as they should.

            When people shop, they act in their best short term interest. America has become all about short-term interest. "I want it NOW, and I want as much as I can get." The massive amounts of debt incurred by the average American is an indication as to how pervasive this mentality is, and sadly, it is only one of several. The next time you walk through a mall, a park, or other location frequented by large numbers of people take note of how many of
            • The massive amounts of debt incurred by the average American is an indication as to how pervasive this mentality is

              Like it or not, debt is very important to the health of the economy. It's where money comes from and it is what motivates us to work. "If I don't work, I'll lose my house" is a wildly powerful economic force. It seems counter-intuitive that debt is good but look at the lifestyles of wealthy people. Now imagine a world where everyone behaved like that. We'd get no real work done. We'd al

              • Ad hominem attacks will not transcend reality.

                There are some very unfortunate trends in this culture, and no amount of rationalization will make the costs they incur disappear. You can't have it all. That's part of the human condition. People are good at deluding themselves, but only until they're forced to deal with the consequences. By then, however, the damage is done- it's matter of salvaging what's left.

    • Re:Guard the Table, EFF! (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Morosoph ( 693565 ) on Friday November 19, 2004 @04:24PM (#10868971) Homepage Journal
      Not all companies would condone this kind of behaviour, but it is becoming evident that the amoral progress towards global capitalism are shattering our freedoms...
      What's happening here isn't capitalism, but is rather regulatory capture, whereby an entity distorts the regulators' criteria for judgement, yielding an inefficient outcome. The most potent captures of regulatory processes are typically state entities, but large companies come a close second.
    • Peace man, how can they steal if everything is in the public domain. Maybe they just 'took you up in the offer'.

      I'm upset that they didn't put them in the recycle bin or pass them on though.

  • Howard Stern (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Cyclone_TBW ( 812384 ) on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:27PM (#10868134) Homepage
    Well according to Howard last night on Lettermen. Sat. Radio is the next big thing and he is going there to create is own rights. More power too him. I will pick on up just hear his first show which he said will be "One for the books".

    • Re:Howard Stern (Score:4, Informative)

      by NardofDoom ( 821951 ) on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:47PM (#10868443)
      Unfortunately, I heard that Sirius will probably be getting commercials soon. The new head of Sirius was the head of Viacom, who is critical of any non-advertising-based revenue model.
      • having some commercials on channels is not a bad thing. but there will always be some commercial free music stations.
      • well then. i imagine the people that moved to sirius to escape commericals will move to the competition for just that reason.

        i abhor radio for the simple fact i can't stand commericals or the "dj's" and since both take up about 55 minutes of any given hour (and i can't stand the music on 99% of the public radio stations anyway) and that's why i happily bought an ipod almost 3 years ago now. keep it loaded up with songs and listen to it during my commute. no more radio. no more advertisements. no more annoy
      • The myth that there aren't commercials on Sirius is just that: a myth.

        On the talk and news stations, there are commercials. Of course, this is because they're rebroadcasting regular tv news, etc, so the ads are in there too. Still, they're commercials.

        Now, the music? No, there aren't commercials in it exactly - well, yes there are. It seems like every couple of songs there's a "Sirius" commercial on, reminding you that you're listening to Sirius radio, or piping in stuff like "Don't forget to check o

  • Just goes... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by BJZQ8 ( 644168 ) on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:30PM (#10868180) Homepage Journal
    This just goes to show how far these corporations and individuals are willing to go to maintain their monopolistic control of what they have. It is worse than the railroads of the 1800's and the Standard Oils of the 1900's...I do not in the least doubt they will do anything, including murder, to maintain their way of life.

  • This just sickens me. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Tuxedo Jack ( 648130 ) on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:30PM (#10868193) Homepage
    It's really rather sad when somebody (we all know who they're working for, but don't let this be tried in the court of public opinion; get evidence first) takes papers that go after the industry and attempt to hide them.

    But for the love of Jack Valenti, do it right - burn them or shred them, don't dump them behind a trash can!

    Is it possible that that person wanted the documents found at the last minute to draw up controversy over this?
    • Is it possible that that person wanted the documents found at the last minute to draw up controversy over this?

      Yeah, right. And Kerry won the election. And Scott Peterson was framed. And Kobe was at home with his wife that day, not in Colorado. And O.J. Simpson was on his way to the airport thinking about how much he loved his ex-wife...

  • Uphill? (Score:5, Funny)

    by ggeezz ( 100957 ) on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:35PM (#10868266)
    I'm not sure I'd call it an uphill battle if the best plan their opponents can think up is to use the bathroom trash can to dispose of the documents.

  • Acts of Desperation (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Doesn't_Comment_Code ( 692510 ) on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:37PM (#10868304)
    While I never like to see sleezy behaviour, I've always thought it was a good sign when your adversary starts acting out of desperation. It means:

    -you are a real threat
    -their normal measures have not beaten you
    -they are likely to make mistakes due to their "emotional" state

    It is terrible that someone stole material and threw it away. And it is terrible that people's hard work has been set back. BUT, whoever did this is backed into a corner and feeling very threatened.

    • Re:Acts of Desperation (Score:4, Insightful)

      by adam31 ( 817930 ) <adam31@NoSpAM.gmail.com> on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:53PM (#10868509)
      -you are a real threat
      -their normal measures have not beaten you

      While this is a 'good sign', it's not really a material advantage. When facing a strong opponent that you are squaring to attack, it's generally best to be overlooked and unthreatening as long as possible... then BAM! FireFox 'em just when they think you're irrelevent!

      Man that's a cool verb.

      • Re:Acts of Desperation (Score:1, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.

        -- Mohandas Ghandi.

        Thanks, Redhat, for reminding us.

        • Re:Acts of Desperation (Score:4, Insightful)

          by mOdQuArK! ( 87332 ) on Friday November 19, 2004 @05:02PM (#10869569)
          Ghandi's passive-aggressive tactics work only when your enemy likes to consider itself civilized, and can be shamed into doing the right thing.

          If your enemy doesn't give a damn about such things, they will cheerfully destroy you and continue on their merry way without a backwards glance.

    • While I never like to see sleezy behaviour, I've always thought it was a good sign when your adversary starts acting out of desperation.

      Yeah, I'm sure the EFF will win any day now. Those little, *GIGANTIC* media conglomorates sure don't stand a chance now.

      This sort of incident just reflects the win-at-all-costs mentality of the dominant players, not their weakness. They'll do anything to win, and they usually do.

      The EFF, on the other hand, loses. A lot. I've given them a fair amount of money over the

  • Drats. Foiled again! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Pedrito ( 94783 ) on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:37PM (#10868311)
    As WIPO creates new rights for broadcasters, documents critical of these rights created by EFF and IP Justice were stolen and recovered in a bathroom trashcan.

    Damn, I never thought they'd check the men's bathroom trashcans. Maybe I should try the women's bathroom trashcans next time.

  • "Method for storing important documents in trash" (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:38PM (#10868328)
    Yep, definitely infringing on my patent.
  • I once stole a stack of soon-to-be-assigned reading packets off a teacher's desk when he stepped out for coffee. Of course, I was in the eighth grade. Grow up already! Take it like a man!

  • They should have clicked "SHIFT-Delete" (Score:3, Funny)

    by Megaweapon ( 25185 ) on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:41PM (#10868366) Homepage
    Just doing a "Delete" puts it in the recycle bin. Duh.

  • How many? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Ohreally_factor ( 593551 ) on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:42PM (#10868376) Journal
    How many Bavarian Illuminati does it take to change a light bulb?

    Three. One to screw it in, and one to confuse the issue.

  • In other news... (Score:3, Funny)

    by k4_pacific ( 736911 ) <k4_pacific@yahoo . c om> on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:43PM (#10868396) Homepage Journal
    Italy announced today that they would not sign the treaty. Quoth their Prime Minister, "I uh WIPO my assuh on your treaty-uh." /ducks
  • Perhaps I am missing a key point (such as the paper was notorized), but no one had a digital copy to print?

  • Just like the Good Old Days! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by serutan ( 259622 ) <snoopdoug AT geekazon DOT com> on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:56PM (#10868548) Homepage
    Behold our modern IP warlords, staking out their territory, taxing us peasants for living on it and dictating how and when we can use it, hiring warriors to defend it against others, and all the while declaring that their property is sacred and their authority comes from God.
    • And you're surprised? Capitalism isn't a step up from feudalism, its just feudalism in another form. Control of capital is just an extension of control of the land. Instead of a heirarchy of peasants, lords and kings we have a heirarchy of workers, managers and bankers (and don't forget their armies of lawyers, like you said).
      • In both cases it is control over the means of production, being it food, programming methods, broadcasting rights or otherwise, so indeed there is little difference there (there are other differences, ie, feodalism having to do with how a country is governed while capitalism is an economic system)

  • Civil Disobedience Helps... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by brxndxn ( 461473 ) on Friday November 19, 2004 @03:59PM (#10868597)
    Massive complete ignorance of current copyright laws and any future laws will gear the marketplace away from strict standards no matter what the law says. The law once said 'separate but equal' and the marketplace said fuck that.

    Well, Internet users are saying fuck that to media corporations. TV-viewers with VCRs and Tivos (and MythTV, you arrogant linux jerks) are saying fuck that to the stupid-loud-ads-in-your face-business-model.

    The more the DMCA is being used in its limitless obscurity, the more it is being struck the fuck down. The more software patents become reality, the more prior art can be claimed in open source.

    The marketplace controls demand and demand always controls supply. Big bad Joe wouldn't be selling pot to 16yo kids if 16yo kids weren't buyin'.

    So, basically, I'm saying to hell with these corporations trying to tell me what to do with something after I already bought it. If I wanna cut a tennis ball in half and use it as a neato door stop, fuck Wilson if they tell me that's unauthorized use. They can fuck off because I paid for the balls... actually, because I have the balls. I already have the mp3s of the songs I want (don't need any new crappy music in my collection) and they weren't available for purchase when I wanted them, and CDs don't always play right and get scratched easily, so why should I go buy the cds of said music now? Make new shit for me to buy... that is worth buying.

    There's safety in numbers - especially in a Democracy that gets to vote for who's in power. Crappy laws can be removed. And guess what, media companies?! -- the majority, consequently your own customers, is already against you! So fuck off and go produce something that I will buy instead of treating me like I'm not buying enough.

    If it were easier to buy a high-quality mp3 for a buck that came with a keychain or some neato bullshit like that, I wouldn't have pirated them.

    So, media companies, here's how to un-piss us off:

    - apologize for calling your customers criminals
    - make access to media easier rather than harder
    - go with the fucking marketplace flow like a good megaconglomerate
    - do some market research that doesn't involve what you think you're owed
    - act like the consumer has a say in what he or she buys
    - quit treating idiots in masses (ie. consumers) as idiots.. we tend to get smart in numbers
    - make better shit

    And finally, all of you pirates that are too lazy to click twice at the EFF website, donate, or fire off a flaming letter filled with poo at your nearest corrupt government fuck, you're still doing your patriotic duty by pirating. I want to liken you to MLK's stand of civil disobedience - but that would be unfair since you're just downloading Britney Spears while the black dudes got their poor asses beat. So instead, I will just say hurrah for teen angst and continue your P2P deviations.. because you are saying a lot, no matter how ignorant the media companies want to be.

    Sorry I said fuck a lot.

    • "Well, Internet users are saying fuck that to media corporations."

      I'd bet my left testicle that most people aren't downloading entire albums because they want to 'stick it to the man.'

      While I suppose that it's more likely that there may be some Slashdotters that would do so to send a message to the recording industry, most music downloaders just want music but don't want to pay for it.

    • It's my opinion that peer-to-peer filesharing improves sales for RIAA and the like. As such, I no longer find it ethical to distribute their copyrighted works -- it's like giving them advertising. What I would *like* to do to them isn't very ethical either, though, so I'm just going to try to wait for their eventual demise to market forces, and promote things like Webjay and Gnomoradio.

      Ethan
      • You're right about the publicity effect, but we need to take it one step farther. We can't squeeze the big label musicians out of mindshare because the big music labels are the big news sources (more or less) and have no regret about using the latter channels to promote the former.

        What we need to do is use P2P and other systems to publicize independant music. It ought to be possible to create some semi-distributed music recommendation system, preferably combined with free distribution of samples. If an

        • Webjay is a great help. Its express purpose is to help share great music you found put out by people who are distributing their works on the Internet.

          I bought some albums by Brad Yoder [bradyoder.com] -- he's a folk-ish kind of singer so I feel guilty about liking his songs. Check out wwjd -- it's hidden in a bad place on his site but it's a great song. Brad: "I love to play this song because it makes people at both extremes upset."

          Ethan
          • Also, I forgot to mention, but two of the late Warren Zevon records -- The Wind and Life'll Kill Ya, are put out by Artemis Records, which is an independent label according to RIAA Radar (and the Artemis Records site itself, and I think Wikipedia too). I love Warren Zevon and most of his music is RIAA-owned, so it was really nice to find that someone so mainstream could be at least a little free.

            Ethan
    • TV-viewers with VCRs and Tivos (and MythTV, you arrogant linux jerks)

      One can use a TiVo and be an arrogant Linux jerk.
    • but that would be unfair since you're just downloading Britney Spears while the black dudes got their poor asses beat. So instead, I will just say hurrah for teen angst and continue your P2P deviations.. because you are saying a lot, no matter how ignorant the media companies want to be.
  • That's just proof that someone read them.

    What else can use a stack of papers for in the bathro-- oh my god dear no! someone think of the childern.
  • *points at co-workers, family and friends* I TOLD YOU THEY WERE EVIL! EEEEEVIIIIILLLLL! Who's a paranoid wacko now? oh yeah I guess there's that other stuff too, but not this!

  • It might be possible to get the perpetrator's fingerprints off of the papers (if the Good Guys(tm) were careful in how they handled the papers once they found them in the trash).

  • stolen and recovered in a trashcan? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by mark-t ( 151149 ) <markt.nerdflat@com> on Friday November 19, 2004 @04:41PM (#10869239) Journal
    Methinks that phrase is missing a comma.

    Otherwise, doesn't this phrase mean that the theft itself, as well as the recovery, took place within a trashcan? (which would imply an awfully small thief, not to mention a rather unusual place to have such important documents in the first place).

    [Moderation -1, Grammar Nazi]

  • Gosh, maybe they should take a lesson from the 1950's American Foreign Policies of trying to manipulate other peoples

    Maybe it's time to go back to boycotts

  • The Corporation (Score:3, Interesting)

    by danila ( 69889 ) on Friday November 19, 2004 @05:09PM (#10869671) Homepage
    A particularly nice movie: The Corporation [imdb.com]. Nothing groundbreaking, but that was not the point. The point was to tell the story of how corporations came to being and why they are so fucking heartless. It includes interviews with people both inside and outside the corporate world. If you never thought about why the corporations occupy the place in your world that they now do, this films could be an eye-opener. Below are the eDonkey links for the film (3 episodes, different encodings), but other networks may have them as well.

    ed2k://|file|The%20Corporation%20Cd1.mpg|6141704 52 |61E26051E883C07D83646F94EA51DD27|/

    ed2k://|file|The%20Corporation%20Cd2.avi|5168563 46 |A0779FC2FCB779170A0D731080FE05A0|/

    ed2k://|file|The%20Corporation%20e1.1.mp4|972724 24 |512F7E9F820E44F3DE13FF9D1470D9D9|/

    ed2k://|file|The%20Corporation%20e1.2.mp4|567266 03 |B3AEB0657C12ADF02F65A4BBDB490A21|/

    ed2k://|file|The%20Corporation%20e2.1.mp4|974124 74 |87C48DC6F846ACDDFFF3A1C634A67555|/

    ed2k://|file|The%20Corporation%20e2.2.mp4|564471 98 |4DD8040BC28C0E6AAFC8C9556240E4E5|/

    ed2k://|file|The%20Corporation%20e3.1.mp4|973943 90 |BEB7F1F625126E8BCB53A6FC0621BB12|/

    ed2k://|file|The%20Corporation%20e3.2.mp4|604896 22 |8C19BFCC0FC0871EB087B908AE19D818|/

    Personally with every new day I realise how the history comes back 100 years ago in some respects... The struggle of the proletariat against the capitalist opressors did not end, despite what you may have been told. It is inevitable, let's just hope we all do better this time.

  • What About Healthcare Information? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    There are HUGE power grabs occurring which will transform the US and its citizens' ability to own their own information which are getting very little media notice. Check out the Federal Register's November 15th Request for Information on how best to remove traditional medical record conidentiality and instead make all of your medical information "interoperable" and accessible by the government and others for data mining.

    See: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/06jun2004 1 800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2
  • char * X;
    char * Y; ...
    if (X != Y) { ...
    }

    The above if statement contains "A system, method and computer-readable medium support the use of a single operator that allows a comparison of two variables to determine if the two variables point to the same location in memory." (The quote is the entire abstract of the patent application.)

    I'm sorry, but God needs to destroy the USPTO from space at this point.
    • Sometimes I think these moderator people are insane.

      While the patent itself is for BASIC, the claims and abstract are quite elementary. I even *quoted* the abstract in its entirity. And doing a not-equal operation on a pair of pointers is all about finding out whether two vairables "point to the same location in memory".

      In the old PC environment, with the non-flat memory model the pointers would need to be normalized (a-la the HUGE memory model), but that's about it.

      So this is very much on-topic.

      • But it would be more on-topic if you had replied to the actual story about the IsNot patent application. Someone reading this story without having read that one would find your reply confusing.

        It will be interesting to see if this patent application actually gets rejected or not by the patent office.

        And now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

        Eric
        How to detect Internet Explorer [ericgiguere.com]

  • Letter to my MP (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Morosoph ( 693565 ) on Friday November 19, 2004 @08:14PM (#10871371) Homepage Journal
    Dear Anne Campbell,

    I'm writing to you on intellectual property, but this time not
    specifically in Europe, but rather in the World Intellectual Property
    Organization. It appears that the body is not neutrally seeking
    informed democratic policy-making, but rather simply attempting to
    coerce its members into accepting strong IPR. I do not believe that
    this should be the way in which an international body should work,
    and I would hope that our government agrees.

    Below, I have extracted relevant sections from the linked webpages.

    http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/002130.php#0 02130 [eff.org]

    WIPO: Day 3

    November 19, 2004

    Today at WIPO saw a flat-out disgraceful cooking of the deliberative
    process. The administrators of the meeting -- the chair and secretariat
    -- are pushing hard to make this treaty pass, even if no one wants it
    to. The solution to the deadlock is "regional meetings" in which
    countries that oppose the treaty can be isolated and arm-twisted into
    coming into line, and where few or no public-interest NGOs will be
    present. Some of the most populous countries in the world -- India and
    Brazil -- along with many others called for a better approach: any
    region that wants a meeting can have one, but the real action would be
    at an "inter-sessional meeting" held in Geneva, with all countries
    represented. Even though these countries presented a solution that would
    have given regional meetings to those who wanted them, the chair
    steadfastly refused to hear from them -- eventually, he used a straw
    poll to discard their proposal altogether, and then called it
    "democracy."

    http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/002117.php [eff.org]

    Both yesterday and again today, written statements provided by IP
    Justice and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which were placed on the
    table designated for floor papers, were stolen within minutes of being
    deposited on the table. Additionally yesterday documents provided by the
    Union for the Public Domain were also missing shortly after being placed
    on the table.

    This morning, many of these documents were recovered from the trash can
    in the first floor men's restroom. Another set of IP Justice statements
    as well as copies of the alternative NGO Proposal for a Broadcasting
    Treaty were recovered from behind a desk on the ground floor. These
    documents provided by IP Justice, EFF, and the Union for the Public
    Domain were critical of the Broadcasting Treaty. The papers drafted by
    the broadcasting industry, urging the treaty's adoption, however, remain
    undisturbed on the table for floor papers.

    Yours sincerely,

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