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The Guardian ran a jaw-dropping story about a US lobbying group that is asking the government to punish countries for encouraging open source software adoption.
“It turns out that the International Intellectual Property Alliance, an umbrella group for organisations including the MPAA and RIAA, has requested with the US Trade Representative to consider countries like Indonesia, Brazil and India for its ‘Special 301 watchlist’ because they use open source software,” Bobbie Johnson reported.
The “Special 301 watchlist” is a report that examines the “adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property right” worldwide. Johnson said, it’s a list of countries the US government considers enemies of capitalism.
The source for this Guardian story is from research by Andres Guadamuz, a lecturer in law at the University of Edinburgh who discovered the IIPA’s actions to admonish the Indonesian and other governments for encouraging the adoption of open source software to save money.
