On Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 12:16 PM, Grace Bomu <nmutungu@gmail.com> wrote:
Thank you.
Welcome Grace,
These are great pointers. We are tackling the debate on whether software rights should be copyright or patent and I also wanted to give my country experience.
These things mean different things to different people. When you see some of our local "Intellectual Property" defenders on "anti-piracy" and crusades, one clearly sees their intention is not to protect or promote Kenyan's interests but rather to give us ropes long enough to hang ourselves and future generations out of the knowledge economy. Sadly, they sneakily brand their acts as anti-counterfeit "holy" wars on (all our?) fakes and in the process creating a sense of 'romanticism' attracting many to join their bandwagon. Look closely underneath.... It extends to medicines. Are we excellent at protecting life saving IP on medicines than saving our people from dying from HIV? 'Kenya Pressured To Implement Anti-Counterfeit Law Despite Access Fears' http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/07/02/kenya-pressured-to-implement-anti-...
Clearly, we are neither here nor there when it comes to small developers...perhaps also bringing in the point that unless Government creates a conducive environment for small developers, the industry will keep on being controlled/dominated by the larger companies, whom the current IP law favours.
At this point in time, I am of the opinion that all we have is mostly just "hope" for local developer little guy while IP Protection "implementation" regime happens for the big boys (mostly from out there...) Who in government are protect traditional knowledge, discoveries, even culture? recall kiondo and kikoy story? "Disputes include kiondo and kikoy both of which have generated heated debate both locally and internationally over what we regard as “theft” of our cultural heritage by developed countries. Kikoy was in the news when a company in UK applied to register the word KIKOY as a trade mark - UK trade mark application number 2431257 an intended registration halted after an opposition was filed." <http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Opinion%20&%20Analysis/-/539548/626834/-/u11y81z/-/index.html> (Please note: I am not ICANN Chair. Typo explained and excused by the BD team)
Thanks again,
Look forward to seeing at the meeting tomorrow....
2009/10/20 Gakuru Alex <alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com>:
Hi Grace,
Some pointers hope you find them useful.
"It costs almost 250,000 to get a patent in this country."- Fabian Owuor (ke-users list archives)
"It is possible that ICT degree learning outcomes are not being achieved. It could also explain the limited number of software development companies in Kenya and the limited ICT innovations in Kenya (e.g.,patents or new software products)." and " Kenyan universities do not explicitly measure their performance based on the PhD throughput, journal articles published or the patents registered per year." -ICT Research Capacity: Challenges & Strategies in Kenya, http://euroafrica-ict.org/downloads/uganda/anthony_rodrigues.pdf
Meanwhile, be sure to interview software developers that have walked the thorny local software IP registration path, likes of Wesley Kiriinya and Morris Mbetsa - both whom are on ke-users list.
What government efforts are underway to protect Local IT innovations? There exists an ICT Standards Task Force (to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief) under the Ministry of Information and Communications.
One finds AG Wako's take on digital IP rights implementation fascinating in that the state uses public resources to protect private interests! CCK's domain draft registration regulations propose to fine and/or jail those that register domain that violate rights of others.. jeez! whatever happed to domain disputes resolutions?? "Several steps forward, several backwards" - Name of the Kenyan game..:-(
Wish we had better digital media knowledge preservation/archiving in Kenya? 'Would have been very resourceful' links are now dead URLs 1) http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11880&Item... and 2) http://www.tradeandindustry.go.ke/kipi/patents/forms.htm
---a story--- Symbolically this is why the early telegraph and telephone connections ran along railway networks and into mining and other raw material resource areas. Radio broadcasting was also introduced with declared intentions of ideological and political purposes of colonial control,” he said.
James Shikwati, the Director of Inter Region Economic Network, reflects on a farmer who startled other delegates saying, “Experts” from the West on the other hand position themselves as “knowledge sources” that end up destabilising the existing farmer knowledge that would otherwise have worked to everyone’s benefit if one were to listen and simply add value to it.
Agreed- it extends to West's "knowledge sharing" with supposedly totally un-knowledgeable Southerners. Precisely the reason why "knowledge exchange" is more accurate. Worse still, knowledge harvested locally by Western "researchers" through cunning "research grants" ends up owned, re-packaged, and re-sold as highly price intellectual property we can hardly afford.
Unless urgent enactment of surrounding laws is undertaken, the mobile phone and various upcoming cables, like early the telegraph, will serve others' but our interests.
In the prevailing weak laws environment, envisaged benefits risk vanishing and instead technology could turn into an instrument of extended exploitation, oppression, widening poverty divide, alongside cultural alteration, among others, thus eroding the very promise of a prosperous technology-driven future.
http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/Featured/Weak-laws-exposing-national-int...
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Alex Gakuru <gakuru@gmail.com> Date: Sat, Feb 28, 2009 at 11:42 AM Subject: Innovation: Standards vs Patents To: ke-users <ke-internetusers@bdix.net>
Innovation Policy: The Balance Between Standards and Patent Regulation By Georg C F Greve, president, Free Software Foundation Europe
Interconnectivity, commoditisation and increased reuse and recombination are key trends within the maturing information and communication technologies (ICT) industry that drive innovation and development. As the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Information Economy Report 2007-2008 highlights, the ICT sector is a main driver for innovative and economic benefit, with the impact on ICT-enabled sectors potentially outweighing that of the ICT sector itself. Harnessing this potential depends on a variety of factors, including open innovation models, such as free software.
Interoperability is another key factor with significant economic impact in which two areas of regulation overlap: Standardisation and patents. This paper provides an analysis of the interaction of patents and standards, including a public benefit consideration to maximise innovation, development and economic growth. ... <http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/02/26/inside-views-innovation-policy-the...
regards,
a.
On Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 6:45 AM, Grace Bomu <nmutungu@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi, I am seeking to answer the question of intellectual property rights for software in Kenya. Is there anyone, a software developer, a team, a company etc who has actually ever registered their software? How did you register- copyright or patent or any other rights? Is there anyone also who develops software but does not usually register it- why? Any information from your experiences would be really useful. Warm regards, Bomu
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