1,000 members — 100,000 supporters — 20,000 businesses — 50 countries
In 2005 the FFII helped Europe reject a proposal to legitimize the European Patent Office's (EPO) case law. In 2007, the EPO continues to grant software patents and business method patents in violation of the European Patent Convention by applying its own interpretation and "case law", outside of any EU legal framework.
NoOOXML: Money makes the Wikipedia go round (1282849266|%O ago)
Did you notice, the open xml controversy is gone.
News: Transcript: Andrew Tridgell on Patent Defence (1282769393|%O ago)
The following is a transcript of a talk given in New Zealand, 2010. Andrew Tridgell discusses why reading patents is usually a good idea, how to read a patent, and how to work through it with a lawyer to build a solid defence. For the free software community, Tridgell also suggests how cooperation could help scare off patent holders.
NoOOXML: Binary Format Plugfest in October (1282181412|%O ago)
In a post-OOXML world "binary format" interoperability remains a challenge. Doug Mahugh invites developers to a Binary Format Plugfest.
News: PriorArt: What's so bad about "business method" patents? A case study (1280819208|%O ago)
In Marshall, Texas, a patent that seems to cover the act of distributing a press release online (No. 6,370,535) was used to sue six companies that are in that business; [...] The business proposition of eReleases, one of the defendants, is simple: For a one-time fee of $399, eReleases distributes press releases [...] [f]or an additional fee, Kennedy will write a release. [...] the [patent] application wasn't even filed until 1999—a year after he started his business. After a few hours’ online research, Kennedy found no less than 20 companies involved in the press release business before the filing date of the patent. Unfortunately, presenting that evidence in court would require him to pay those six-figure legal bills.
News: Law.com: Patent Litigation Weekly: Data Shows That Troll Problem Persists (1280818332|%O ago)
Let's start with what everyone knows--NPE patent litigation isn't going away. Since 2007, more than 1,500 companies per year are hit with lawsuits brought by the more than 300 NPEs [...]. NPE litigation has grown from where it accounted for between 2 to 3 percent of all patent suits a decade ago to the point that it now accounts for 17 percent . For some operating companies, NPE litigation makes up more than 90 percent of their patent litigation docket.
News: Apple among 36 companies targeted in e-mail spam patent suit (1279781329|%O ago)
A new lawsuit filed this week has accused Apple, Google and numerous others of patent infringement, alleging that the companies are improperly profiting from spam filtering technology created by InNova. [...] The suit deals with U.S. Patent No. 6,018,761, related to technology that is used to differentiate between regular e-mail messages and unwanted advertising spam.
News: Patently-O: Patenting by Entrepreneurs: The Berkeley Patent Survey (1279621775|%O ago)
Our third major finding concerns startup executives' perceptions of the effectiveness of patents and other methods of providing competitive advantage. Interestingly, responses vary widely (see Fig. 2 below). Biotechnology companies rate patents as the most effective means of capturing competitive advantage, more effective than first-mover advantage (though the differences are not statistically significant), trade secrecy, reverse engineering, copyright, and other means. Software companies, on the other hand, rank patenting dead last in providing competitive advantage.
News: Packt Publishing Offers New Discounts on Multiple Purchases (1279619576|%O ago)
These discounts apply to orders of any books, and can be redeemed by ordering multiple copies of the same book, or through a number of different titles. The discounts are automatically applied in your cart, which means that obtaining bulk-buy discounts is a simple process.
News: The Post-Bilski landscape: Why some tried, but failed, to ban "business method" patents (1279105028|%O ago)
But while Justice Anthony Kennedy’s controlling opinion may not do much to change the status quo when it comes to the patent system, the more interesting Bilski story is one of an important "almost"—an "almost" that by all indications was hard-fought. Indeed, for some folks—including those who hoped the Court would use the case to limit what they see as a plague of spurious patent litigation—this has to be a particularly painful “almost.” While the justices were united in denying a patent to the Rand Warsaw and Bernard Bilski’s invention, they split 5-4 on the most important issue: whether it is ever appropriate to grant patents to a method of doing business.
News: KluwerLawBlog: German Court (BGH) strengthens significance of EPO’s and foreign courts’ decisions (1278678151|%O ago)
The German Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) has recently made clear that every court has to take into account preceding decisions of the European Patent Office and of courts of other contracting states to the European Patent Convention if these decisions essentially concern the same questions. Although there is no principle of precedence in Germany – neither in respect of German nor of foreign decisions –, the recent ruling of the Federal Supreme Court (...) requires more than just regarding other decisions with favour. Every court has the obligation to deal with the arguments brought forward in other – German, EPO or foreign – decisions.
News: FeldThoughts: Why Bilski Really Means That Software Companies should leave the US (1278616065|%O ago)
What Bilski means for software is that the advantages of starting software businesses abroad have become even more clear. The tax situation and cost of living in, say, South America, is much better than in the U.S. currently. Now that startups have to live in fear of the uncertainty of the U.S. patent system, when they could be wiped off the face of the Earth by legal fees and customer loss in the span of a few months by the mere filing of a patent suit, and with an entire government that seems to have no sympathy toward their small businesses, why start a software company in the United States?
News: SCOTUSblog: Business method patents nearly bite the dust (1278486297|%O ago)
Goldstein argues that "Justice Stevens was originally going to author the Court’s opinion in Bilski but subsequently lost his majority to Justice Kennedy." In terms of consequences, he states: "On the broadest level of whether the Court might revisit Bilski in a later case when Justice Scalia has the opportunity to consider the matter further, I think the answer is clearly no. In statutory cases like this one [...] the Justices try to adhere to stare decisis. The decision in Bilski settles the question that business methods are patentable subject matter until Congress decides otherwise"."//
News: Bradley Kuhn: Post-Bilski Steps for Anti-Software-Patent Advocates (1278435105|%O ago)
[...] As near as I can tell from what I've learned, the entire “Bilski thing” appears to be a no-op. In short, as before, the Patent Office sometimes can and will deny applications that it determines are only abstract ideas, and the Supreme Court has now confirmed that the Patent Office can reject such an application if the Patent Office "knows an abstract idea when it sees it". Nothing has changed regarding most patents that are granted every day, including those that read on software. Those of us that oppose software patents continue to believe that software algorithms are indeed merely abstract ideas and pure mathematics and shouldn't be patentable subject matter. The governmental powers still seems to disagree with us [...] Looking forward, my largest concern [...] is that the “patent reform” crowd, who claim to be the allies of the anti-software-patent folks, will use this decision to declare that "the system works". [...]
News: Pharmacogenomics Reporter: SCOTUS Tasks Lower Court with Determining Criteria for Dx Patentability (1278362453|%O ago)
A day after reaching a decision in the business methods patent case Bilski v. Kappos, the Supreme Court this week remanded the diagnostic patent case Prometheus Laboratories v. Mayo Collaborative Services et al., to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals with an order to revisit the case in light of Bilski. The lower court must now reconsider Prometheus with the understanding that the so-called "machine-or-transformation test" cannot be the sole determinant for patentability. While this presents an opportunity for the Federal Circuit to come up with new methods for determining patentability with regard to advanced technologies not grounded in a physical platform, nothing in the Supreme Court's recent actions sheds light on how the courts might deal with method patents related to genetic testing.
News: Timothy B. Lee: Justice Scalia’s Indecision a Victory for the Patent Bar (1278362251|%O ago)
Whenever Justice Kennedy waxes poetic about the Information Age, Justice Scalia gets off the bus. The result is an exceptionally narrow holding that doesn’t give much comfort to partisans on either side.
News: Techdirt: Reading The Bilski Tea Leaves For What The Supreme Court Thinks Of Software Patents (1278362112|%O ago)
[...] as more people have had more time to look at and sift through the rulings in greater detail, some are realizing there may actually be a light at the end of the tunnel for those who dislike software patents. Contrary to the claims of the IEEE, the ruling did not, in fact, come out and say that software patents are legit. It sidestepped that question -- in part due to Justice Scalia's decision to opt-out of two sections of Kennedy's majority opinion.
News: BIO Commends Supreme Court for Expansive View of Patentability in Bilski Decision (1278360906|%O ago)
"In our amicus brief, BIO urged the Supreme Court to overturn the lower court's rigid new test for determining whether a method or process is eligible for patenting. We are pleased that the Justices crafted a narrow opinion that does just that. The Court was clearly conscious of the potential negative and unforeseeable consequences of a broad and sweeping decision," stated BIO President and CEO Jim Greenwood.
News: EcommerceTimes: Bilski Brouhaha: Supreme Court Keeps Stevens at Bay (1278360705|%O ago)
Although all of the justices agreed that the invention at issue was unpatentable, the opinion is fractionated, with justices joining various pieces of the opinion, and Justices Stevens and Breyer writing concurrences to elaborate their views hostile to patenting in the information sector. Justice Kennedy's plurality decision held that the Federal Circuit's Machine-or-Transformation test could not be an exclusive test under section 101, although subsequent tests could be propounded consistent with the Court's precedent.
News: New America Foundation: Video Prison: Why Patents Might Threaten Free Online Video (1278313023|%O ago)
If online videos were subject to patent licensing fees, users could be charged per-view to capture those fees. [...] video licensing could reduce the democratic nature of free and open Internet content to monetizable media. The funny cat videos would be gone forever [...], but so too would the movement-inspiring Nedas of the future remain unknown. [...] As the Web incorporates multimedia, some participants want to control -- and charge for -- its video standards. [...] Some participants in the online video discussion claim that common video codecs [...] cannot be implemented without infringing their patents. One codec under popular consideration for use in HTML5 is H.264 (a.k.a. MPEG-4 AVC), already used for an estimated 66% of all online video content, [...]. Yet H.264 is also claimed to be subject to a pool of patents controlled by MPEG-LA, a limited liability corporation that describes itself as the "world’s leading packager of patent pools for standards"
News: The Supreme Court Keeps Business-Method Patents Alive (1278159750|%O ago)
The Supreme Court, as expected, dealt the final blow to Pittsburgh inventor Rand Warsaw's dream of patenting a method for hedging energy costs against changes in the weather. In doing so, however, the court didn't upset the foundations of the multibillion-dollar world of "business method patents," which are based less on a particular machine than a process for achieving some practical end.
News: CNet: Supreme Court sidesteps software patent issue (1278157937|%O ago)
Anyone hoping that the U.S. Supreme Court would limit the ability to patent software will be disappointed by Monday's ruling. The court ruled against patent applicants Bernard Bilski and Rand Warsaw (PDF), who in 1997 had tried to patent a process for hedging investments, a process of countering one investment risk with another. But the majority of justices stopped far short of a broader ruling that would have curbed so-called business method patents -- and perhaps software patents as well.
News: Bnet: Supreme Court Says No to Bilski Decision, Yes to Software Patents (1278157855|%O ago)
The bottom line: contrary to some reports, experts say that the 5-4 ruling offers little to no change in business method and software patents.
NoOOXML: Reform or not reform? (1277308250|%O ago)
ISO and other standards bodies did not learn from the OOXML debate. Reform of ISO is pending to allow more fast tracked standards from ECMA. Procurement of OOXML might be illegal in Europe.
NoOOXML: Alan Bryden in Brussels (1276861811|%O ago)
An old fox is put in charge of another hen house.
Digimaj: "No Power for the Parliament" warns EPO examiners association (1273590075|%O ago)
The Staff Union of the EPO sent a letter to the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, warning of risks integrated into the accession of the European Union to the European Patent Convention (EPC). They warn that the European Parliament can be circumvented as a legislator in patent law.
NoOOXML: Alex Brown: Microsoft Fails the Standards Test (1270223189|%O ago)
The second anniversary of the approval of ISO/IEC 29500 (aka OOXML) is upon us. [...] we can fill out a report card for a couple of these promises and determine how well Microsoft is doing … On this count Microsoft seems set for failure. In its pre-release form Office™ 2010 supports not the approved Strict variant of OOXML, but the very format the global community rejected in September 2007, and subsequently marked as not for use in new documents – the Transitional variant. Microsoft are behaving as if the JTC 1 standardisation process never happened [...].
Digimaj: Alvaro asks 9 questions to the Commission about ACTA, including 3 strikes and transparency (1265818281|%O ago)
Alexander Alvaro (ALDE) has asked 9 questions about ACTA, including 3 strikes and transparency, or the access by the INTA committee to the drafts documents. He is also asking about changes to substantive patent law (read software patents here).
Digimaj: Members of European Parliaments ask when they will receive the ACTA documents (1265717153|%O ago)
Some Member of the European Parliament have asked when they will receive the ACTA documents, mentioning the Lisbon Treaty article 218 which says that the Parliament have to be "fully informed" of the negotiations. The new trade commissioner Karel DeGucht said previously that the Lisbon Treaty do not apply to ACTA, because the confidentiality of the talks were negotiated before.
NoOOXML: Samba guru Jeremy Allison reflects on Open XML standardisation (1264092321|%O ago)
Allison says professionals lost their respect in ISO.
NoOOXML: EU settlement: ECMA 376 not ISO 29500 (1261093641|%O ago)
Microsoft will document "additional information" to ECMA 376 and will comply with ECMA 376 1st January and shields the freedom to create software as a work of art pour l'art.
NoOOXML: ANSI: international standards system is working well (1260886208|%O ago)
Messages from a parallel universe.
Digimaj: FFII and IP Justice file Bilski Amicus Brief to the U.S. Supreme Court (1254917669|%O ago)
The Foundation for a Free Informational Infrastructure (FFII) and IP Justice filed an Amicus Curiae Brief to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case Bilski v. Kappos is expected to become a landmark ruling on the future of the U.S. patent system. The joint Brief explains the interlink of software and business methods, and points out alternatives to the so called Machine-or-Transformation test used for categorizing patents.
Digimaj: IBM says software patents drive OSS development (1251930625|%O ago)
In its Amicus Brief to the US Supreme Court on the Bilski case, IBM is arguing that "patent protection has promoted the free sharing of source code [...] which has fueled the explosive growth of open source software development."
NoOOXML: OOXML as a response (1251572389|%O ago)
Why did OOXML come into existence?
NoOOXML: Softpatent trolls OOXML and Word (1250068076|%O ago)
The Amageddon of Open XML. Redmond graps the bitter fruits from nuturing the software patent troll legislative environment. Soft patents are a nightmare for software companies and prohibit the company to sell MS Word.
NoOOXML: Open XML is a foul apple (1249649137|%O ago)
So you are using Mac MS-Office? Giant fail!
NoOOXML: 800 pages of defect for OOXML, here it is (1249648869|%O ago)
800 pages of defect for OOXML, here it is. ISO is such a transparent organisation that they are afraid of the web, and the public light of the blogosphere. Here is the leak for you.
NoOOXML: ISO will meet in Redmond, dinner paid by Microsoft (1249647857|%O ago)
The capture of the ISO process by the vendor is not finished. The next ISO SC34 meeting, who should review more then 800 pages of defects of OOXML. will be held in Redmond, at a stone throw of Microsoft's headquarters. Remember the dinner in Korea?
NoOOXML: New Wordprocessing Patent (1249645543|%O ago)
Does it make you feel comfortable to sit on mined grounds?
Digimaj: What's wrong with the United Patent Litigation System (UPLS)? (1247054084|%O ago)
A journalist of WorldIPReview recently asked FFII what were its views of the proposed United Patent Litigation System (UPLS), which is now being questioned by the Council in a submission to the ECJ. FFII had already published a press release mentioning the new push for software patents in Europe via a centralised and trusted court.
Digimaj: The Bilski test was invented by IBM (1246642471|%O ago)
By reading the Amicus Brief of IBM to the CAFC, it is pretty clear that the machine tranformation test which allows software patents and ban business method patents was invented by IBM lawyers.
Digimaj: USPTO refuses to disclose Bilski's pending patent application (1245674081|%O ago)
The US Supreme Court will soon hear Bilski on why software and business method patents are so good for the US economy. I was trying to find out where the Bilski's pending patent application was published, and I ended up writing to the new USPTO President and ex-IBM David Kappos. I finally got an answer from a USPTO official that the Bilski's pending patent application cannot be seen by the public.
Digimaj: Patent expert Alison Crofts says EPLA is pushed by pro-software patents lobby (1244544547|%O ago)
In its edition of IP Value 2007, the Intellectual Asset Magazine (IAM) was publishing an article about the Reform of European Patent System, where an expert mentions that the push for the EPLA is coming from the pro-software patents lobby.
Digimaj: European Patent Office refuses spanish amicus brief against software patents (1244147053|%O ago)
Alberto Barrionuevo, CEO of the small spanish software company OpenTIA and ex-president of the FFII, had submitted an amicus brief to the Enlarged Board of Appeal in spanish. The European Patent Office has notified him that they are refusing his letter because it was not written in one of the 3 official languages of the EPO.
Digimaj: European Commission pushes for software patents via a trusted court (1242135050|%O ago)
The European Commission is pushing for software patents via a centralised trusted patent court that would be created with the United Patent Litigation System (UPLS), an international treaty that would remove national courts. This court system would be shielded against any review by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Thus patent judges would have the last word on software patents.
NoOOXML: Microsoft now attempts to sabotage ODF (1241797156|%O ago)
Users should react loudly to the latest attempt of Microsoft to sabotage ODF and fragment the corpus of ODF files
Digimaj: Conference on "Make software patents work for SMEs" (1240399523|%O ago)
The European Commission is organising a conference dedicated to "Make IPR work for SMEs" next Monday in Brussels. You can here submit your questions for next Monday on how to "Make software patents work for SMEs".
Digimaj: Stallman: "The EPO is a corrupt and malicious organisation which should not exist" (1240230341|%O ago)
Last Wednesday, farmers and software developers were demonstrating in Munich in front of the European Patent Office. Richard Stallman was describing the European Patent Office as a "corrupt and malicious organisation which should not exist".
NoOOXML: Burning the binary ships (1240057151|%O ago)
The latest discussed advocacy scheme for OOXML: The old binary formats implementations are insecure and attention to fix security flaws of implementations is reduced.
NoOOXML: What is the definition of an "existing document"? (1239980310|%O ago)
ISO SC34, now heavily controlled by Microsoft people who go to ISO meeting happening all over the planet, has published a report of defects of the pseudo ISO standard ISO29500. They do not provide a definition of what is an "existing document".
NoOOXML: Open XML, the standard that was not (1239978608|%O ago)
Many neutral BRM observers felt screwed up and they get more and more evidence that their feelings were right. Open XML proponents become twitter jerks.
Digistan: Digital Standards Organization publishes "standards for standards" (1239801870|%O ago)
Digistan has published its first "standard for standards", the Consensus-oriented specification system. or COSS.
Digimaj: The ACTA draft treaty is covering patent infringement (1239751672|%O ago)
Wikileaks has published some drafts of the secret ACTA treaty, which aims to give better guns to Patent Trolls. The draft mentions that it covers all the rights covered by TRIPS, so it will cover also patents.
Digimaj: Secret European Union mandate to negotiate ACTA leaked: fears confirmed (1239532365|%O ago)
The secret European Union mandate to negotiate the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) was leaked. Member of the European Parliament Jens Holms said the document has confirmed his fears.
Digimaj: Call the Obama administration and ask for your copy of ACTA now! (1239036951|%O ago)
The Obama administration wants to be called about the status of negotiations of ACTA. Call the Obama administration and ask for your copy of ACTA now!
Digimaj: FFII and EPO announce "Binaries-As-Prior-Art" (1238581288|%O ago)
After years of confidential work, the European Patent Office (EPO) and the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) today announce a radical way to improve software patent quality: Binaries-As-Prior-Art, or BAPA. BAPA combines a database of billions of compiled computer programs ("binaries") with a powerful Cloud search engine that can find any invention in microseconds.
NoOOXML: Portuguese Public Administration forced to use Microsoft Office 2003/7 (1238442307|%O ago)
The Court of Accounts's Counsil for Corruption Prevention is making a mandatory survey on corruption risks in public procurement, which all public administrators must reply, by law. However, not only the survey is available only in Microsoft's binary format, but they also demand that it is returned in Microsoft Office 2003/7 XML format (MS-OOXML).
Digimaj: The Conspiracy of Silence (1238160980|%O ago)
The greatest threat to the global movement to abolish software patents is not the patent trolls or legacy businesses, but the conspiracy of silence from those on "our side" of the debate.
Digimaj: Did Red Hat lobby for, or against software patents in Europe? (1237910689|%O ago)
In this article we revisit the historical 2005 Software Patent Directive, the most heavily lobbied European law ever, and look at Red Hat's public policy statements regarding this law. Our conclusion: Red Hat Instead, they endorsed the propaganda term "Computer Implemented Invention" and they lobbied for amendments that would legislate for, not against, software patents across Europe where the letter of the law still forbade them.
Digimaj: Who drives the Spanish ICT public policy? The Minister? Sure? (1237740584|%O ago)
Open letter to the Spanish Minister of Industry demanding him to fire to the vice-minister who seems to drive the current ICT public policy of Spain... for big telecoms and Hollywood entertainment corporations. The man who tries to bring the French 3-strikes against P2P to Spain. Everything against the public opinions expressed by the Minister. What is wrong here, Minister Sebastián?
NoOOXML: Paoli: This is a time of change (1237734293|%O ago)
Did we overlook an important event? And what about the crumbs of the ongoing crisis spending?
Digistan: "Where does the pressure come from?" (1232455205|%O ago)
Peter Jungen and the EEI wonder if openness rhetorics risks turning Europe into an innovation "dead zone".
Digistan: EU Council wants DRM interoperability consultations (1227482384|%O ago)
In addition to mixed responses of consumers reluctant to accept technical protection measures without direct consumer benefit, the interoperability problems of existing DRM solutions lead to a supply side fragmentation of the market which prevent their adoption. The EU-Council wants consultations.
Digistan: Commission clarifies its views on Open Standards (1223120542|%O ago)
In response to a question of Hiltrud Breyer the European Commission explains 'Open Standards'. Technical mandates are seen as "a means to achieve its political, economic and social mandate, including carrying out its tasks in the most efficient way, constantly ensuring appropriate user satisfaction and best value for EU taxpayers' money." Furthermore the Commission highlights its support for the open document format (ODF).
Digistan: UK Government responds to Digistan petition (1219154796|%O ago)
Chris Puttick points us to the Prime Minister's office's response to the Digistan petition launched by UK supporters of free and open digital standards.
Digistan: EU holds firm on "open standard", US firms go ballistic (1214988419|%O ago)
After years of discussion, the EU has announced that it will not change its definition of "open standard" to accommodate the wishes of patent holders and legacy software firms. We look at some of the reactions and at the growing divergence between US and EU policies on technology.
Digistan: South Africa will host XML workshop 17-20 June (1213015248|%O ago)
Rob Weir, Steve Pepper and Patrick Durusau are expected.
Digistan: UK petition on Hague Declaration (1212589875|%O ago)
The UK Prime Minister's office has accepted an e-petition calling for the PM to adopt the Hague Declaration. Deadline for voting is 6 July.
Digistan: Commission to MEP: We are able to accept and generate ODF (1212159727|%O ago)
EU-Commissioner Siim Kallas answered to MEP Cappato (ALDE) that the Commission was able to accept and generate documents in ODF format. The Finn heads among other DGs the Directorate General Informatics of the European Commission which coordinates the Commission's IT infrastructure.
Digistan: The IT Rights of Digistan (1212150040|%O ago)
Josh Chalifour discussed the relationship of open standards and open source and acknowledges the new advocacy approach of the Digistan Hague Declaration.
Digistan: South Africa appeals against ISO decision on OOXML (1211542345|%O ago)
Steve Pepper reports that the South African national standards body, SABS, has appealed against the result of the OOXML DIS 29500 ballot in ISO.
Digistan: Hague Declaration to be signed on 21 May in the Hague (1210846862|%O ago)
The founders of the Digital Standards Organization, and others, will sign the Hague Declaration on 21 May 2008 in the Hague. The signing ceremony will be held in the Dutch Royal Library.
Digistan: Open letter to standards professionals and activists (1210661300|%O ago)
In an open letter published today, nineteen standards professionals and activists, founders of the Digital Standards Organization call on standards developers, supporters, and advocates to sign the Hague Declaration on open standards, and join in the building of a new not-for-profit worldwide grass roots organization "to defend and promote open standards".
Digistan: "Proyecto Estándares Abiertos" joins Digistan as its chapter in Spanish (1210660431|%O ago)
The "Estándares Abiertos" project (www.EstandaresAbiertos.org), originally the inspiration for the FFII's open standards work group, and the intellectual source of Digistan has decided by unanimous votes of its members to join Digistan as its Spanish chapter, covering Spain and Spanish-speaking Latin America.
Digistan: KROS joins Digistan as Polish chapter (1210324123|%O ago)
Polish organization KROS, the Coalition for Open Standards, has joined the growing international community that is building the Digital Standards Organization.
Digistan: Digistan France launches LesStandardsNumeriques.org (1210153455|%O ago)
"Les Standards Numériques est la plateforme francophone de Digistan, the Digital Standards Organization. Digistan regroupe des professionnels des formats numériques et a pour but de promouvoir le choix des consommateurs, la libre concurrence et la croissance dans l'économie numérique par le biais de la compréhension, le développement et l'adoption de standards informatiques libres et ouverts."
Digistan: Ecuador migrates to Free Software and Open Standards (1207934549|%O ago)
On April 10, 2008, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa Delgado signed a decree ordering that the software used by public administrations in the country be free software (and implicitly based on open standards). Fuller story in Spanish...
Digistan: Digistan workshop - The Hague, 21st May 2008 (1207469700|%O ago)
Digistan organizes its next workshop in the Hague on 21st May 2008. The programme covers all Digistan workgroups including Domino, the project to translate the Dutch e-government framework for international use.
Digistan: 29 November 2007 - "Standards and Patents" in London (1195120296|%O ago)
Microsoft are running a conference on the subject of standards and patents, "Providing unique insight into standards and key patent issues affecting companies that use hi-tech equipment."
Digistan: MS-funded interoperability study tells governments, "it ain't broke, don't fix it" (1195119698|%O ago)
"The findings of an international study released today by researchers from the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School and the Research Center for Information Law, University of St. Gallen indicate that private sector leadership, more so than government intervention, is the optimal method for ensuring that technologies work well together and innovation flourishes... The research was sponsored by Microsoft Corporation."
The FFII is a not-for-profit association active in over fifty countries, dedicated to the development of information goods for the public benefit, based on copyright, free competition, and open standards. More than 850 members, 3,500 companies and 100,000 supporters have entrusted the FFII to act as their voice in public policy questions concerning exclusion rights (intellectual property) in data processing.
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