Hello All,

Apologies for cross-posting.

On the occasion of 'International Day against software patents' , the Hindu has extensively covered the issues of software patents and software freedom. There are four articles below - 2 of them explore software patents (view from foss community, industry, academia) . 2 other articles cover software freedom (a generic article on software freedom and another on the absence of foss in school curricula) .

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* Will patenting take the byte out of IT here? * Deepa Kurup BANGALORE: Picture this. Indian mathematicians came up with the concept of the “zero” — often touted as India’s greatest contribution to civilisation — and got a patent for it. By now they would have raked in inestimable amounts in royalty. Seems preposterous? Members of the Free Software community say that patenting every other algorithm would be somewhat in the same league.

For full article pls read - http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/24/stories/2008092461910300.htm

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* Why is it important to go the ‘free’ way? *

V. Sridhar

Bangalore: One of the most misleading aspects of the “debate” on free software — or Open Source software — pertains to what is meant by “free.” Those ridiculing the free software activists — typically dismissed as “the techie types” — portray them as a bunch of folks who just want software to be sold for free.

However, those who passionately advocate free software argue that their emphasis is on free, as in freedom. “Let software be free from the shackles of full-fledged commercial exploitation” seems to be their refrain. It is important to steer clear of the pejorative connotations implied by those who adopt an adversarial stand on free software.

For full article please read - http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/24/stories/2008092461920300.htm

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* Black-and-white, with some grey areas ( *

Anand Parthasarathy

Bangalore: For the mainstream global IT players, software patenting is a clear-cut issue, and they have no time for ifs and buts: They are for it. In the wake of the ongoing public consultations on the Patent Manual, which throws up issues related to software patenting, /The Hindu /spoke to India leaders of some key IT players to find out what they thought:

Naresh Gupta, Sr. Vice President, Print & Publishing Business Unit Adobe, and Managing Director, Adobe India, a leader of the imaging software and solutions business, says: “We believe in safeguarding of intellectual property rights. Adobe invests significant resources towards innovation and we expect protection of our Intellectual Property Rights, to be able to sustain business.”

For full article read - http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/24/stories/2008092461930300.htm

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*How would it be if you read only one type of book? *

Deepa Kurup */ Wrong choice?/ Students are taught to use only proprietary software. *

BANGALORE: A computer literacy programme in a public sector organisation teaches the following modules: MS Office, MS Power Point, MS Excelsheet and Internet Explorer. A glance through the “computer syllabus” in most schools, and the list is similar. All items on this checklist have one thing in common: proprietary software. So, if every computer user is being taught exclusively on proprietary platforms, would they ever be comfortable switching to the easier, cheaper and readily available alternatives?

For full article please read - http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/24/stories/2008092461820300.htm

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Thanks, Vinay Sreenivasa IT for Change http://itforchange.net http://india.is-watch.net/ http://is-watch.net