Another dominican voice against the (catastrophic) DR-CAFTA...

Squat

Tropical geek in Las Terrenas
Jan 1, 2002
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Here's an interesting article from a very sharp dominican gentleman, Antonio Perpi?an, who is specialized in Free Open Source Software... It is in spanish (sorry for the non-spanish readers...), and I am posting it today, since most of my rants about DR-CAFTA were focused on the disappearance of the rice sector, and the campo in general, I wanted to underline that high-tech and creation are at risk too with that HUGE TRAP that is the DR-CAFTA (I just hope they'll go on finding excuses not to implement it...)

Anyway, here's the article :
http://codigolibre.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3096
 

project9

New member
May 29, 2004
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So basically the author of this piece is saying that the DR-CAFTA will hurt these developers because they won't be able to plagiarize software and sell them as their own. That kind of radical thinking is what gives the open source community a bad name.
 

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
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project9 said:
So basically the author of this piece is saying that the DR-CAFTA will hurt these developers because they won't be able to plagiarize software and sell them as their own. That kind of radical thinking is what gives the open source community a bad name.
AMEN!

-NALs;)
 

Squat

Tropical geek in Las Terrenas
Jan 1, 2002
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project9 said:
So basically the author of this piece is saying that the DR-CAFTA will hurt these developers because they won't be able to plagiarize software and sell them as their own. That kind of radical thinking is what gives the open source community a bad name.

No, I can see that you guys totally misunderstood the Open Source idea. If you research, you will find that quite the opposite is the true :

-The ideas come from the Open Source world, freely avalaible, and then some folks commercialize them.

-So if you put patents in ideas, they won't be able to freely flow... It will be a major step back for tech inovation.

If you have a group of creative persons (whether developpers or other), the best way to have them inovating and inventing is to let them free.

Anyway, I understand this is a controversial subject, however the best way to end software piracy in developping countries is to educate users about open-source software.

I don't see low-middle-class dominicans shell out big bucks for rheir legal copies of Windows XP and bigger bucks for their copies of Microsoft Office.

However, I can see, with a bit of education, the same folks using Linux and Open Office.

I understand some of you have a bad image of those products, but I use them, and find them to be a reliable (better i.m.o) alternative...
 

MrMike

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Mar 2, 2003
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www.azconatechnologies.com
There is alot of patent trolling issues in the US right now that is causing major headaches for technical development, i.e. firms that exist for no other reason than to file patents for simple things (like mouse-clicks, online shopping carts etc.) and then sue anyone who uses them - whether they invented the technology or not.

This is what the article referred to by the OP is worried about, that the DR would have to respect these frivolous patents that would result in a flurry of frivolous lawsuits.

It is clear that US lawmakers do not understand technology and that being the case it would be a shame to import their ignorance to the DR, which has plenty of its own ignorance to deal with as it is.