Sovereignty Trumps Intellectual Property
Tim Bray published an account of a recent meeting to discuss the state of Massachusetts’ draft IT policy; the one that mandates fully open document formats. In response to the comment (it seems from a Microsoft rep?) that This appears to be an assault on the intellectual property of the private sector
, MA’s Eric Krist reportedly replied:
Sovereignty trumps intellectual property. Companies certainly have the right to own their own intellectual property. We’re all for IP in implementations, just not in interchange formats.
In a time of so much — much more serious — obfuscation and utter insanity (yes, I’m talking about the politics in this country), it’s refreshing to hear someone in a position of some leverage so clearly articulate a point so sensible, and yet so counter to dominant orthodoxy. This put a smile on my face, as I nodded my head in agreement. It reminded me of my response to conservative Republican Ron Paul’s principled opposition to the Iraq war. “Finally,” I thought, “someone talking sense!” I can only hope the perspective holds sway in the face of no-doubt serious behind-the-scenes pressure.
On a related note, Tim and I seem to have pissed off some people at Apple by publicly lambasting their decision not to release the schemas for their productivity applications (Keynote and Pages). Sorry, Apple, but I’m not going to cut you the slack that I won’t cut Microsoft.
