To provide a non-US Ubuntu?

[Russell McOrmond]

Rob Bowers wrote:
> Or something will react. Maybe Canada's patent policies will be made 
> less ambiguous. The world would take note. In this case, it will have 
> been a successful protest.

   Canada's patent policies are even more confusing than the USA.  In 
the case of the USA it was the courts that expanded patent policy to 
include software patents, re(or mis)interpreting what legislators were 
intending with their patent act.   In Canada it was the patent office 
itself, trying to re-interpret the law and court precedent in such a way 
to serve their special interests (more patents being filed means more 
money for them).   Patent lawyers, patent courts and patent offices are 
all special interests in this area of policy, each financially and 
otherwise benefiting from confusion in patent policy.


   You can read some of this via http://www.flora.ca/patent2003/

   The focus right now of policy work is on copyright policy given we 
expect a bill to be tabled in the new parliament (IE: this fall).  The 
government has been busy during the summer working on this, so we will 
see whether the Conservative bill is better or (more likely) worse than 
the Liberal's Bill C-60.


   If you haven't signed our 2 petitions and sent a letter to your MP, 
please do so right now:  http://www.digital-copyright.ca/node/2360


   If you have money to support (and direct) some people working on this 
on your behalf, please become a member of CLUE: The Canadian Association 
for Open Source  http://www.cluecan.ca/why-join

-- 
  Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
  Please help us tell the Canadian Parliament to protect our property
  rights as owners of Information Technology. Sign the petition!
  http://www.digital-copyright.ca/petition/ict/

  "The government, lobbied by legacy copyright holders and hardware
   manufacturers, can pry my camcorder, computer, home theatre, or
   portable media player from my cold dead hands!"