|
OLDaily
By Stephen Downes February 28, 2003 The Regina Declaration This article is a compilation of my contributions to the Commonwealth of Learning conference on copyright: It is within our grasp, if we assert only the will, to provide in full the resources needed to provide an education for every person on the planet. I submit that it is toward that objective that our discussion of copyright should direct itself. By Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, February 28, 2003 [Refer][Research][Reflect] Marriott Moves On Wi-Fi I don't know where Marriott did its market research - I can't believe it did any - but I can say most certainly that I will not be getting my wireless access from this hotel chain. "Marriott charges $2.95 for the first 15 minutes of use and 25 cents for each additional minute." What are they thinking? By News@2 Direct, Wireless World, February 27, 2003 [Refer][Research][Reflect] Price cut for Starbucks Wi-Fi Now this is much more reasonable, and much closer to market rates: "T-Mobile will also slash the price of a "day use pass" to $6, which allows access for 24 hours inside any of about 1,200 wireless Starbucks." Now if only Tim Horton's would gt wireless... By Ben Charny, CNet, February 27, 2003 [Refer][Research][Reflect] Tackling Software Piracy an Uphill Battle The hook for this item is a raid on a software duplication house that netted illicit copies of software purportedly worth $10 million (I say purportedly because the value is being assessed according to the retail value of the original, a value that would never be close to realized in the illicit software market). The theme of the story is to illustrate how difficult it is to enforce copyright with respect to software and to describe the Business Software Alliance's (BSA's) campaign to curb such trade. Not mentioned in the article is the BSA's most recent tactic: to snoop in ftp sites and threaten action if it finds what it believes is illicit software. Unfortunately, these emails are misdirected, flagging every instance of "Open Office," a widely circulated and perfectly legal open source system, as illicit software. Presumably it is on the basis of such notifications that universities are supposed to shut down accounts. Well, open source, after all, remains a much greater threat to commercial software vendors than illicit copying ever has been. By Ryan Naraine, InternetNews.Com, February 28, 2003 [Refer][Research][Reflect]
Know a friend who might enjoy this newsletter? Feel free to forward OLDaily to your colleagues. If you received this issue from a friend and would like a free subscription of your own, you can join our mailing list at http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/website/subscribe.cgi
[ About This NewsLetter] [ OLDaily Archives] [ Send me your comments] |
