This is a reminder about the RMS Talk at IIT-M on 7th. Please note that the talk has been advanced an hour earlier to 3:00 PM. Links to a couple of posters are also available.

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Hello All,

Extramural Lecture by RMS @ IIT-Madras :- =======================================

Topic : "The Danger of Software Patents"

Speaker: Richard M Stallman (RMS)

Time : 15:00 - 17:00 Monday February 7th 2005

Venue : Central Lecture Theater (CLT), Opp to Open Air Theater (OAT), HSB, IIT-Madras.

Posters: http://www.chennailug.org/meeting/info/eml-rms-bw.pdf : http://www.chennailug.org/meeting/info/eml-rms-color.pdf

Abstract of the talk :-

Richard Stallman will explain how software patents obstruct software development. Software patents are patents that cover software ideas. They restrict the development of software, so that every design decision brings a risk of getting sued. Patents in other fields restrict factories, but software patents restrict every computer user. Economic research shows that they even retard progress.

About the speaker :-

Richard Stallman launched the development of the GNU operating system (See http://www.gnu.org/ and http://directory.fsf.org/GNU/) in 1984. GNU is free software: everyone has the freedom to copy it and redistribute it, as well as to make changes either large or small. The GNU/Linux system, basically the GNU OS with Linux kernel added, is used on tens of millions of computers today. Stallman has received the ACM Grace Hopper Award, a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Pioneer award, and the the Takeda Award for Social/Economic Betterment, as well as several honorary doctorates (See http://www.stallman.org/).

ALL ARE WELCOME :)

Bye :)