I’m pleased Nick Clegg has blocked the Communications Data Bill, but if we’re to avoid the same zombie bill coming back in the night for our brains we need to fill the vacuum it leaves. I explain more on ComputerWorldUK today.
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This open letter from the director of Bytemark Hosting is a call for other hosting companies to help financially support the development of a new free email client. It asserts that by supporting this particular project the industry as a whole can progress, becoming better able to compete with propriety software giants.
The principle seems valid enough, if you want a project to succeed, adding value to your own product, you need to give that project your support.
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Python logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As soon as I heard about the trademark dispute concerning Python, I tried to contact both sides and understand why there was even an issue. I got through straight away to the Python Software Foundation, but the other party – a UK company called POBox Hosting – waited until Monday afternoon to put me through to their CEO. The result was pretty extraordinary – someone in the hosting business who essentially hadn’t heard of Python until last Friday. Read about it on ComputerWorldUK.
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The IoS may have uncritically picked up the messaging the UK’s “Intellectual Property Office” has been spreading, but the likely outcome of the unitary patent is likely to be much less savoury. Rather than helping small business, this new regulation introduces yet another threat against small business owners, especially those basing their business on open source software who have no corporate sugar-daddy to protect them. Read why on ComputerWorldUK.
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The Communications Data Bill may have come under heavy fire in Parliament, but it’s not dead yet – and it’s already cost us a fortune even without becoming law. Read more in ComputerWorldUK.
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On ComputerWorldUK, I’ve posted my picks for FOSDEM. I didn’t mention that I’ll also be speaking (about OSI) at the end of Saturday afternoon in the Free Java DevRoom. I’ve still a few openings for 1:1 meetings too – let me know if you want to meet. See you there!
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My weekly FOSS link roundup on ComputerWorld UK for those not following me on Twitter.
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(While You Were Out, Again)
Today I have a roundup of the digital rights stories that caught my eye over the break, on ComputerWorldUK.
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I’m going to experiment with a new (to me) format in ComputerWorld; a “while you were out” round-up of the most interesting links I’ve tweeted in the last seven days. The first is up today, for open source – let’s see how well it works.
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Of course FRAND terms are incompatible with software freedom, even if you can find a project that has devised a construct to allow it to attempt to accommodate that incompatibility. When a standard includes patents that are not automatically licensed to all implementers – on “Restriction Free” (RF) terms — that means a standard may require permission to be implemented. Requiring explicit permission to act is anathema to software freedom.
Read more on ComputerWorldUK.
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All views expressed on this blog are those of Simon Phipps and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other entity, including clients and former employers. See my full disclosure of interests.
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