MJ Ray wrote: >Jason Clifford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >>On Fri, 5 May 2006, MJ Ray wrote: >> >> >>>coverage, even in the tabloid newspapers, technological protection >>>measures (TPM, or MTP in French) seems to be used a lot. [...] >>> >>> >>Why continue to us the word "protection". By doing so you are granting the >>central plank of their case to those who want more restrictive copyright >>powers. >> >> > >I don't see protectionism as a good thing and I doubt many do. >Surely no WIPO-fearing government can support protectionist laws? >So, I'm quite happy to label these bad things as protection. > > > I think this is a mistake. 'Protectionism' is another weasel word used by our opponents for actions they don't like. So the Philippines government's and others attempts to claim the right to produce generic medicines in order to make medicine affordable for their own population is being labelled 'disguised protectionism'; the same has also been said about the Brazilian governments move to free software within the public sector. I think the word 'protectionism' is as unusable as the phrase 'intellectual property', unless accompanied by quite a bit of explanation as to what you mean in each case. Personally, when I see the word used to criticise something my knee-jerk reaction is one of sympathy for the organisation being accused of it.
I also don't think it's right that any government should have to be 'WIPO fearing' (as opposed to having to carry out the wishes of its electors, or doing what it thinks is best for its electors), but that's a slightly separate argument. Cheers Graham _______________________________________________ Fsfe-uk mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/fsfe-uk
