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

[Rufus Pollock - Open Knowledge Foundation]

Richard Stallman wrote:
> snip ...
>     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.

I absolutely agree - i was trying to avoid precisely this problem when i said 
earlier in the email: 'promote awareness of the public domain and remedy the
constant biasing of the innovation/creativity debate in the favour of
(stronger) IP'. As you say, speaking of the 'IP' debate is already putting the 
discussion inside that paradigm. However in this context debate about IP 
doesn't just mean how much IP but whether there should be any at all or 
whether it should have a very different form.

Do you think that that talking about 'IP' inevitably biases one in talking 
about the issue. If so in what terms would you prefer the debate to be conducted?

> 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.

I entirely agree. I take as an indirect answer to the question I posed: energy 
would be better used right now by campaigning about music copyright extensions 
than in writing to the UK patent office about bias on their website.

Regards,

Rufus