Hi all,
Join RIT’s FOSS@MAGIC program for our April FOSS Talk as we’re visited by
Deb Nicholson from the Open Invention Network, who will be talking about Patents, Copyrights & Trademarks: Or Why the Future Might Curse Us.
Patents, copyrights and trademarks form a trio of legal tools often referred to as "intellectual property" law. While each of these tools originally grew from a desire to help new businesses and individual
creators find their way to success, today these advantages are better at creating inequity than opportunity. The litigious application of patents, copyrights and trademarks has become so distorted in modern times that their usage often amounts to bullying.
In court, the larger, more monied, more experienced party disproportionately wins.
As free software developers, we want to keep building software without the threat of expensive and/or frivolous lawsuits. Some of our best and most innovative ideas come from small, underfunded projects. Without outside help or protection, these vulnerable
projects tend to lose their legal battles. In order to keep the future from cursing us for letting things get worse, we need to participate in the creation of policy.
Deb Nicholson is a free software policy nerd and passionate community advocate. She is the Community Outreach Director for the Open Invention Network, the largest patent non-aggression community in history
which serves Linux, GNU, Android and other key FOSS projects. She’s won the O’Reilly Open Source Award for her work on GNU MediaGoblin and OpenHatch.
Registration for the event is free but registering lets us know how much food to order.
Who: Open to the public (not just RIT Students) just be sure to RSVP.
When: Wednesday, April 12th. 4:30pm-6pm.
Where: RIT Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction, and Creativity (MAGIC). Building 87, Room 1600. Parking is available in "S" Lot, near crossroads dining hall.
Be sure to save the date for our next hackathon, NASA Space Apps, on April 29th & 30th. Registration will open later this week!
Thanks,
Dan
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Dan Schneiderman
FOSS@MAGIC Research Associate and Community Liaison
Rochester Institute of Technology
585.478.6898