Promoting Innovation And Locking Up Intellectual Property Are Not The Same

from the look-at-the-misunderstandings... dept

A slightly disturbing piece in the Washington Post about some of the lobbying going on behind the scenes concerning open source software. Specifically, the focus on a proposed (and apparently canceled) meeting by WIPO to discuss "open-source's place in the intellectual-property landscape". WIPO, of course, is the World Intellectual Property Organization. Those pushing for the meeting pointed out that many developing countries might benefit from using open source over proprietary software. That Microsoft would oppose such a meeting is no surprise - and they sent their lobbyists to stop it. What's more worrisome is that the "director of international relations" for the US Patent and Trademark Office so badly misunderstands the nature of intellectual property and open source. She is quoted as saying: "To hold a meeting which has as its purpose to disclaim or waive such rights seems to us to be contrary to the goals of WIPO." This is the head-in-the-sand position of those who run our current intellectual property system, apparently ignoring the fact that they are supposed to be promoting innovation and not just locking up intellectual property. If they took the time to understand that those two things are not the same, they might realize that open source technologies and more flexible intellectual property rules can be designed to better promote innovation.