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[ga] Re: [Ecommerce] A few details of Microsoft's lobbying against WIPO event



James and all,

  I am saddened to see that a once wonderful journalist has besmirched
journalism in acting in such capacity with BSA and BSA taking this
very questionable position.  I hope that more of our members
will exercise appropriate input as they have been doing on this
very important and divisive issue.

James Love wrote:

> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject:        A few details of Microsoft's lobbying against WIPO event
> Date:   Wed, 20 Aug 2003 18:44:35 -0400
> From:   James Love <james.love@xxxxxxxxxx>
> To:     random-bits@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> >From the TechDaily article, it appears as though WIPO had received a
> number of calls in opposition to the meeting on open collaborative
> efforts to create public goods.  Microsoft has been I believe the main
> private sector actor in this (even though the request for the meeting
> was quite broader than free/open software).   One group active in
> opposing the WIPO event was BSA, a group often run as if it is a
> subsidiary of Microsoft.  BSA's Emory Simon was making calls and taking
> meetings with senior US government officials to oppose the meeting..
> Jeri Clausing, a former NYT reporter now working for BSA was calling
> reporters to tell them that WIPO had cancelled the meeting, and Jeri
> also told at least one reporter she had correspondence that WIPO had
> sent to me, which I found somewhat surprising.  (In this case, just a
> letter that seemed like a standard acknowledgement of the request, that
> Jeri claimed was something more).     According to Jeri (whom I called),
> Mario Correa from BSA was also working to block the WIPO meeting.
> Mario is the head of "software policy" for BSA.  Mario has been active
> in opposing government proposals to require open source software
> procruement (see below).  Another Micosoft agent who appears to have
> been instrumental in raising the spector of that open/free software was
> a violation of the GATT was long time Micorosoft defender Jonathan
> Zuck.   Zuck's group ACT (web page doesn't work well with Mozilla, so
> use MS's EI) features an article by former USPTO and WIPO offical and
> recent big pharma lobbyist Dick Wilder about the "lessons the Open
> Source community can learn from the SCO/IBM lawsuit."   Act has opposed
> goverment rules to favor open source software development and also
> claims such rules are a GATT violation.   jamie
>
> http://global.bsa.org/usa/press/newsreleases/2003-06-12.1653.phtml
> BSA Testimony on Federal Policy and Open Source Software before the
> Center for Strategic and International Studies
> Prepared Remarks of Mario Correa
> Director of Software Policy
> Business Software Alliance (BSA)
>
> Before the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
> Federal Policy and Open Source Software
>
> June 12, 2003
>
> --
> James Love, Director, Consumer Project on Technology
> http://www.cptech.org, mailto:james.love@xxxxxxxxxx
> tel. +1.202.387.8030, mobile +1.202.361.3040
>
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Regards,
--
Jeffrey A. Williams
Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 131k members/stakeholders strong!)
"Be precise in the use of words and expect precision from others" -
    Pierre Abelard
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