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I’ve heard a lot of arguments against software patents (SWPAT) since Richard Stallman first raised the flag at the League for Programming Freedom, and almost all of the arguments are variations on a theme. A valid theme, but a theme that, after 20 years, has become a bit monotonous. Herman Daly puts that theme in…

According to a feature article in Federal Computer Weekly, the Obama Administration’s new CIO Vivek Kundra has specifically called out open source as one of the key technology initiatives he will support to make the government work better at a lower cost (and with greater transparency). But the article continues to point out what seem…

Launched on the eve of his birthday, the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) and the Advanced Information Technology Institute of the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Center for Excellence in ICT (AITI-KACE), have decided to join forces with the Sohne family to establish a Fellowship in memory and honour of the great work…

Michele Boldrin of Washington University in St. Louis talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about intellectual property and Boldrin’s book, co-written with David Levine, Against Intellectual Property. Boldrin argues that copyright and patent are used by the politically powerful to maintain monopoly profits. He argues that the incentive effects that have been used to justify…

The story of “Let’s Do It!” is both a story of civic triumph and a validation of open source software technology. But like the successful campaign of Barack Obama, the story of the actual open source software used is far less important and far less interesting than the story of how much the principles of…

A special report from CNNMoney.com quotes Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney saying “As antitrust enforcers, we can no longer sit on the sidelines.” It’s about time! As many of you know, I was a witness in the Microsoft antitrust remedy trial of 2001, and one of the specific abuses to which I testified was my…

If you think open data is as important as open source, then please take a look at a release candidate of the Open Database License (ODbL). It uses a combination of EU database rights, contract, and copyright to create a reciprocal license specifically designed for databases.

Okay, so Doc Searls has been blogging for a long time about how you don’t want to get involved in a silo (context: a silo is a proprietary user interface built on top of proprietary APIs built on top of a proprietary operating system running on proprietary hardware. If you can’t think of any examples,…

– Are you interested in building a successful business in Free/Open Source Software (FOSS), and in helping others to do the same? – Do you have a solid background in business and FOSS? – Do you have experience in training others, and/or are you part of a training institution? Then respond by MAY 30 to…