[IP] Why IP owners should worry]
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Why IP owners should worry
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2005 09:46:30 -0800
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Why IP owners should worry
By Melanie Wyne
<http://news.com.com/Why+IP+owners+should+worry/
2010-1014_3-5967045.html>
Story last modified Wed Nov 23 04:00:00 PST 2005
Whatever you may think about the recently proposed OpenDocument
Format policy switch for Massachusetts' executive agencies, one thing
can be agreed on by all sides: It's a big deal.
More than two years ago, Massachusetts embarked on an "open
standards, open source" policy, ostensibly working to guide its
executive agencies toward a more citizen-accessible, cost-effective
management of state IT assets. The state finally settled on the
mandated use of OASIS' OpenDocument Format, plus Adobe's PDF schema,
for its executive agencies' office suites by January 2007. This
policy has pitted those in favor of government mandates to meet
"larger considerations" against others in the industry who favor a
more market-oriented approach.
One editorial labeled Massachusetts' OpenDocument Format plan as the
"domino" that will cause other governments and private parties to
follow suit, fostering more choice. Others believe that it represents
a mandate for a single type of software model, one purposely imposed
to limit competition, not strengthen it.
Yes, all of this is big. But there's also something bigger going on.
It points to a perfect storm that can't be good for those who depend
on intellectual property, or IP, to prosper. As part of the
discussion between Massachusetts and software developers who would be
affected by the state's mandate, the designer of the OpenDocument
Format policy, Eric Kriss, flippantly stated:
"Here we have a true conflict between the notion of intellectual
property and the notion of sovereignty, and I'd say that 100 percent
of the time in a democracy, sovereignty trumps intellectual property."
This sounds positively pre-Boston Tea Party to me.
Kriss' supporters say the statement has been taken out of context.
And they're right. It can't be considered in isolation. It reflects
the currently fashionable idea that confiscatory government policy
must be used to even the score (whatever that means), thrusting
highly demanded, privately risked IP out of the hands of legitimate
property owners and into the hands of other, favored actors to
further "develop" it.
A recent court decision in the U.S. (i.e., the Supreme Court's
eminent domain decision in Kelo); regulatory and legislative actions
in the EU (i.e., the EC's stance on interoperability, and failure by
the EU Parliament this summer to pass patent legislation); and
rampant piracy, not just in the developing world but here on these
shores, buttress this supposition.
But the real tipping point seems to be apathy. Thus far, the IP
community in America and Europe all seem to have collectively yawned.
Such a view can be nothing short of myopic.
Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve Board chairman, notes that
America's main economic product has become "predominantly
conceptual," based in large measure on IP assets. Perhaps as much as
75 percent of publicly traded company value in the U.S. comes from
intangible assets, again largely IP-based. The EU parallels much of
this experience.
Through privately owned and developed IP, American and European IP
companies have given back untold public benefit. Our world-leading,
IP-dependent goods and services--our car airbags, drug delivery
mechanisms, air traffic control systems, toaster ovens, etc.--make
the lives of billions of people better. Strong and enforceable IP
rights--e.g., copyright, trademark, patent and trade secrets--have
played no small part in this development.
The rest of the world--developed and, importantly, developing--is
following suit.
[snip]
Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>
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