States take patents?
Drug prices remain a hot issue, with the Washington State legislature voting to allow Washington to certify (in some way) Canadian pharmacies to allow WA to buy drugs legally. Then comes
this: taking patent rights from drug companies, on a state-by-state basis, in exchange for "just compensation." A new way to apply pressure on companies to force price adjustments.
Interesting effects to watch -- if the Florida Prepaid cases are involved in the justification, such that states have immunity and can infringe on IP, what will be the ultimate impact? States infringe!? States stop filing for IP of their own?
Microsoft to give you $5
Very funny that Microsoft will
give you a whole $5 if their software damages your data. What will you do with your $5??
IBM Open Sources to sourceforge
As big companies make more public
moves to open source (the definition of which we will not go into right now) one wonders how the open source community will react. Will independent developers embrace these corporate "donations"? Are they truly donations? Will contributions continue -- by whom? Who will use the new contributions?
UK Govt protects citizens. . .from computer viruses
Interesting that the UK government is now going to
alert those citizens that subscribe to the UK service about potential security issues. What would this move inspire in the US? Private companies would be worried. . but how successful can the government be, and how much will folks pay attention? What is the budget of this office?
Oh no! I may be taken over by Mac
I've often prided myself on NOT being a Mac/Apple person. But I'm a big fan of my Tivo, and now there are rumors that
Mac may buy Tivo. Now, someone will probably buy Tivo, and Mac may be a good choice -- or at least the best among the potential suitors.
Sakai gains acceptance
Sakai's use is interesting to me. . as institutions turn away from commercial vendors and try to take on development themselves. Growth among small v big organizations will be interesting to watch.
Sakai Offers Classes New Server Option: A growing number of colleges are encouraging professors to post syllabi and notes on Sakai, an open-source program that organizes course records and other material. More than 60 institutions are experimenting with the software, which was designed -- and is updated -- by programmers on campuses across the country. At Yale University, where a test run of the software has drawn cautiously positive reviews, officials are considering the program for all courses, in part because Sakai promises to be cheaper than its commercial alternatives.Yale Daily News
Overreaction wins again
After imposing extremely strenuous regulations managing consulting at the NIH, the investigation is over. Most cases were cleared. So now top NIH scientists will not be able to help organizations. What about the FDA? Why not focus on a problem that needs solving?
Way to go, Amazon.com
It's hard sometimes to applaud companies, but I like this project, Amazon.com's attempt to find an
innovative non-profit organization and give it a bunch of money. I hope that many non-profits are watching the Amazon.com space and apply -- and many customers vote with their pocketbook.
Welcome to my Blog
I will keep track of interesting information and developments I find in the areas of innovation, information & knowledge management, and related law. From the other blogs and feeds I read, I'll place those I enjoyed the most here.
