[spectre] Open Source Software,Development co-operation & Intellectual Property Rights

[Floor van Spaendonck]

INVITATION  3 June 2003 Killer (Application is People )Club
Open Source Software, Development Co-operation and Intellectual 
Property Rights

Together with the HIVOS foundation, Waag Society organises a Killer 
Club on open source and development co-operation.

In the South (formerly called: the Third World), the use of Open Source 
Software (OSS) spreads rapidly. The advantages of OSS over commercial 
software are in the field of user freedom and often cost savings. The 
use of OSS however asks for a greater learning effort of the users. 
Often this is seen as an advantage.

Big software producers who's business model is based on the exclusive 
rights on the 'soul' of the software, the code, are not happy with 
these worldwide developments. They consider it a threat or even a 
breach of their intellectual property rights. Consequently, they try to 
stop the spread of OSS or at least control it.

OSS clashes with the 'commercial model' of software on the issue of 
Intellectual Property Rights. Can knowledge, which plays such a major 
role in our economy, be restricted to private ownership? Does knowledge 
necessarily need to be 'locked' in order to become a commodity? What 
about the public domain and public ownership of knowledge?

OSS is a direct attack on the market position as well as the 
ideological naturalness of the proprietary model.

This Killer Club is part of the Sarai-Waag Exchange Program. A panel of 
experts, chaired by Lawrence Liang, lawyer in Bangalore (India) and 
founder of a think-tank in this field, will discuss the subject with 
invited specialists and policy makers.

The Killer Club will be streamed via the waag-website.

Date: 3 June 2003
Location: De Waag/ Theatrum Anatomicum- Amsterdam
Time: 8 p.m.
Admission: Free
Booking: Floor van Spaendonck floor at waag.org