[Upd-discuss] a longer term strategy for promoting the public domain?

[Richard Stallman]

    Writing to the UK patent office doesn't seem to be a very
    effective solution given their mindset. It would be rather like pin pricks on
    an elephant. Surely there must be more attractive targets?

I would think of launching a counter-site designed specifically to
explain the bias and falsehoods in their site, starting with the term
"intellectual property" itself.

We could use the name www.intellectual-property.org.uk--and start by
saying that the government site is permiated by bias down to its very
domain name.

    To distill my question to the list: 'We want to expand awareness
    of the public domain and its importance and correct the imbalance
    in the IP debate.

Once you start trying to engage in an "IP debate", you've already
lost.  Copyrights and patents are separate issues, so attempting to
have a single debate about both of them at one is confusion.  Further,
labeling this confused issue as "IP" is repeating the other side's
propaganda, which they designed to frame the issues in a way that
makes their wrongs look right.

We have to clarify and correct this confusion and prejudice, not go
along with it.


However, all things considered, I think that campaigning against the
proposal to extend copyright on musical recordings in Europe
is worth higher priority than this.