I met Rufus in Cambridge (England) last week. He is working tirelessly trying to convince UK and European politicians to show some common sense on copyright law. He has his own blog about both the politics of IP and his own scientific work rufuspollock.org. I'll be posting later about some of his scientific work. In the meanwhile, you can catch up on political events in Europe at

first link here

second link here

and he recommends this site as well.

I don't think I will ever understand how groups with a private interest in an outcome can continue to expect the public to accept the most outrageous arguments for their position. Mike Masnick has been a consistent popper of such arguments, and he has another now on some in the fashion industry who again want to copyright their designs link here. One wonders where they have been, as they have totally failed to realize what they are advocating.

Fashion depends on a constant stream of change to get people to buy the latest in-thing. Think about the design dimensions that are possible link here. How many inches above or below the knee can a hemline be? Are they going to copyright that? Take the next step. How many inches can a skirt flair? How many pleats? How wide each pleat? How many colors? How high the waistline? I'd love to be the lawyer defending a copyright infringement case in court. Ask the plaintiff what distinguishes his design. How can he answer?

It gets only slightly better when one considers the example of pretty obvious knockoffs. But big-name fashion houses aren't going to produce them. So now we are in the realm low-end fashion. Isn't the copied better off accepting the emulation as what high-end fashion is all about? The design is obviously widely admired. The original must be worth several times what the knockoffs have to sell for. And why worry? The next season will bring a whole new set of fashions. That is the definition of fashion.

Copyrighting fashion is a contradiction in terms. It will kill innovation (and profit) in the industry. Like so much else with intellectual property protection..

Hi over there!

I guess with the speed of news at internet you already know what happend - we got 7.1% of the total result and probably two mandates when the Lissabon treaty goes into effect.

We did it. Now it´s time to start the race for the national parliament - we need 4 % next year to get in. But with the current result - we will have the finances and the organisation in place to get that done. That I am sure of.

Sincerely yours

Mika

Via Steve Silberstein the story of Clarence Saunders. He invented the self-service grocery store - a valuable and important innovation. Amazingly enough after it was successful he seems to have patented the idea. I can't find any evidence the patent had any effect for good or ill - although it doesn't seem to have kept Saunders out of bankruptcy.

Swedish Pirate Party headed to Brussels. Yet another miscalculation by the IP Monopolists - support for the Pirate Party shot up after the corrupt trial of the Pirate Bay. Corrupting judges and politicians works only as long as it is secret.

via Mika Sjoeman the latest polling numbers. Check it for the Swedish election results in English.

Via my father Robert Levine, a New York Times article bemoaning the negative effect of investors on innovation. Funny thing is, it's mostly about how patents discourage research - but never a thought to patent reform.

John Spiers was recently in Hong Kong and has a report about IP problems there. Any of our readers who think they might interested in helping can get in touch with him through his website (below)

I bought your book and noted you've made anti-IP presentations in Hong Kong. I have one book on small business international trade, and am working on another which will feature an argument against the individual entrepreneur from seeking IP rights, or even exclusive contracts (I disagree even with your trademark exception, but that is for another day.) I am alarmed by the concerted efforts to promote IP law in Hong Kong and China.

I was there a few weeks ago and read this article: link here

I then emailed the reporter and he replied keen on a follow-up.

Mr. Spiers,

Thank you for writing in to the Standard.

The defendent's details were not revealed by Customs because he has yet to be charged while forensic investigations are still ongoing.

I will follow up with the Department of Justice and Customs at a later date on whether I can obtain his hearing date and location.

You're POV on IP rights is definetly novel and very interesting and look forward to reading what other developments you may have in the case.

Thanks again and I shall reply again to you sometime next week.

Sincerely yours,

Tim Chui The Standard Reporter

Dear Mr. Chui,

I enjoyed your article today on "Customs Nabs Second Cybercriminal" in the Hong Kong Standard.

I have been trading in designed goods with China since the 1970's, and there is a good argument against intellectual property rights, although the argument is not popular. I was interested in your article because it might offer an opportunity to put forth the argument in a legal setting.

I work with a small group of people in USA who endeavor to eliminate intellectual property rights law. The group includes academic, lawyers and business people in USA. I may be able to persuade this group to write a "amicus curiae" brief to teh judge in this case. An amicus curiae brief is where parties not involved in a case plead a point to the judge. One point among others would be the fllow was unemployed, could not afford to pay for the movie, nothing was really "taken" when he downloaded the movie, so, no harm no foul. The lawyers would do a better job of explaining of course.

If you could provide me the name of the defendant and the identifying court and case number, I would attempt to persuade my associates to prepare and submit sucha brief to the court. Should they do so, I would inform you first, so if you wish to have an exclusive story, you would have it. This all may do the defendant some good.

Please let me know if are interested. I look forward to your kind reply.

Sincerely,

John Spiers. www.johnspiers.com