FOSS Forum

September 16, 2005

I spent the better part of the day at LinuxWorld Philippines 2005 where the UP Law Internet and Society Program organized 2 sessions in the Public Policy Track of the Conference.  The first session was entitled “From Open Source to Open Content: Issues & Alternatives in “Intellectual Property” and the Public Domain” where our speakers (Attys. Rissa Ofilada and Jimmy Soriano; and artist Ms. Fatima Lasay) discussed the impact of Intellectual Property Rights on the creative process and how a FOSS-like solution offered by Creative Commons can help.  Our second session, “Legal Issues in FOSS” covered various topics including an analysis of the enforceability of the GPL under Philippine law and the implications of the SCO case.  Apart from talks by myself and Atty. Bong Dizon, the highlight came when Manny Amador stood up to rally the troops to reject software patents the awarding of which he says is a “heinous crime.” 

It was an exhausting day but fun.  I’d like to thank Al Alegre and Nina Somera of the Foundation for Media Alternatives who put the entire track together and the folks at the UP Law ISP (Atty. Lindy Rogero-Gavino, Emer Banez, Sharon Corpuz, Judy Repol, Will Varias and Monette de Guzman) for a job well done.