Re: POL: Reaction to Microsoft Ruling

From: Charlie Stross (charlie@antipope.org)
Date: Fri Apr 14 2000 - 05:36:53 MDT


On Thu, Apr 13, 2000 at 01:09:20PM -0400, Michael S. Lorrey wrote:
> > This is an entirely different issue from trademark law, and variants
> > thereon like the appelation controllee stuff (which doesn't exist in
> > the USA but is widely recognized as having the weight of trademark
> > law elsewhere in the world). Incidentally, it can be argued that those
> > Californian bubbly producers who call their produce Champagne have exactly
> > the same relationship to the real thing that Chinese software pirates
> > have with Microsoft: they're simply infringing a form of intellectual
> > property that isn't recognized [much] in their home country.
>
> Except that the people who originated appelation controlee are long dead, and Bill
> Gates is quite alive.... a distinct difference.

Oh, indeed. (Speaking for myself, I'd rather it was the other way around;
I mean, given a choice between sharing the planet with most excellent
vintners and a marketing guy with a whiny voice, I don't think it's a
difficult choice ;-)

However I should not that the people who originated copyright and patent
law are also long dead. Does this mean we should ditch them?

-- Charlie



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