[Ubuntu-SG] Shoud we engage IPOS ? : Previously: Should we "Say No to Piracy"?

[suhaw koh]

Hi CDR,
Like I mentioned in my email yesterday evening, I am agreeable to not
joining HIP.  That was a good to have, but not essential.

The reason why this whole debate started was because of the Schools Project.
 If we want to go to any School, we will have to address a key concern of
theirs, namely that our Project promotes lawfulness among the student
participants.  We cannot hope to get any school to admit us if we are going
to tell their students to ignore IP laws.

And a key to achieving that is to get IPOS on our side.  If we can get IPOS
to give us their stamp of approval, the schools will not give us a hard time
on this issue.

Is there an alternative to IPOS ?  Yes, but not as desireable.  Find a
qualified lawyer to join this project and overcome FUD on the part of school
administrators and assure them that using Open Source software is not
illegal.  Then get this lawyer to conduct a session to the students on
what's legal and what's not.

How is the IPOS option preferable ?  First, IPOS is much more authoritative
than any lawyer on what is legal and what's not.  Schools can doubt a lawyer
but not IPOS.  Second, it is IPOS objective and role to promote IP laws
awareness anyway, so what we are asking them to do is very much in line with
what they want to do anyway.

I can understand why you may not want to join HIP because they are filled
with Open Source-unfriendly organisations.  But do you have any objection to
us engaging IPOS ?

Cheers.



suhaw


2009/6/24 C David Rigby <c.david.rigby at gmail.com>

> Hello All,
>
> I've been watching this debate go by, and I am tempted to hide behind my
> expat status and say, "It's your country, your decision". However, I
> never could resist a debate, regardless of the topic! (8-> So, without
> recapping I will throw in my $0.02 and be done with it.
>
> I concur with Tom, but I do not think that it matters. The issue is not
> that patent and copyright law, following US precedent, has deviated from
> its original intent of promoting innovation and become a tool for
> protecting incumbent business interests. Clearly that is the case.
> Rather, the immediate question is whether TUSG shold join the HIP
> alliance.
>
> I suggest not. While I agree that honoring IP laws is important,
> promoting that particular agenda is "off-topic" for us. Our mission is
> to promote FOSS in general and Ubuntu in particular. To the extent that
> we engage in educational activities, our focus should be on the
> technical aspects, not the legal ones.
>
> Admittedly, the boundaries between "technical" and "legal" are fuzzy.
> However, any groups we join should promote a primary technical
> orientation, not a legal one. The "Free and Open" of FOSS refers to how
> software is developed. That is a technique, not a legal principle,
> though it engages legal and cultural principles.
>
> Regards
> CDR
>
>
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> Ubuntu-SG at lists.ubuntu.com
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>



-- 
________________________
Koh Su Haw  许树浩
http://suhaw.teresaville.org/
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