After using Thunderbird 1.0 as my mail program for several months the “Get Mail” icon/button stopped working. Very annoying.
This was solved by quitting Thunderbird. Finding & deleting the file Inbox.msf be careful not to delete the actual inbox.
Once you restart Thunderbird rebuilds the Inbox.msf file and it all works again.
Swedish Radio (Sveriges Radio – www.sr.se) is the public service radio broadcaster in Sweden. The company is owned by a foundation and is entirely funded by licence fees. Advertising is not permitted. Swedish Radio is proud of its public service tradition. One of the goals of Swedish Radio is that the programs shall be of interest for a wide audience across the country and made available to listeners in the whole country.
(Programmen skall rikta sig till och vara tillgängliga för publiken i hela landet samt i skälig omfattning tillgodose skiftande behov och intressen hos landets befolkning.)
The purpose of Public Service Radio, as defined by SR themselves is that everyone, independent of sex, age, geographical residence or cultural background should be able to find something of value among SRâ??s programming.
To further fulfil these goals SR has adopted digital technology and the Internet as a mode of infrastructure. It is possible to listen to the radio online and to find and download recent programs, as well as programs from the archives.
Unfortunately SR fallen (inadvertently?) into the trap of using proprietary software. To be able to listen to SRâ??s audio files the user must have Realplayer version 7 (or later) installed on her computer. The user has a choice between using either the free version or buying the program.
However using Realplayer presents the user with something of a dilemma. The first problem arises from the fact that the free version of the software is not entirely easy to find. For those who are unaware that the free version exists the alternative is to purchase the software.
The second problem is that Realplayer has serious integrity issues. They have been sued for privacy violations more than once. For those users who wish to protect their integrity Realplayer is not a viable alternative.
The third problem arises if the user wishes not to support or use proprietary software. Free Software, the alternative approach presented by the Free Software Foundation is an important part of an open technological infrastructure and many who support the need for Free Software alternatives are not able to listen to SRâ??s audio files since they are not available in non-proprietary alternatives.
Audio compression formats based upon non-patented, open source solutions (Such as ogg vorbis – www.vorbis.com) should be the format of choice for large publicly funded radio stations such as Sveriges Radio.
Using such formats Swedish Radio will promote open formats for listening and become part of an open society instead of providing support for a private corporation lock-in.
This post therefore argues:
1. Swedish Radio should not be promoting the product of a single manufacturer.
2. Swedish Radio should not be promoting products which are used to gather data about the user.
3. Swedish Radio should be supporting free and open formats.
During his keynote speech at FISL (Fórum Internacional de Software Livre) in Brazil, Eric Raymond said, “We don’t need the GPL anymore. It’s based on the belief that open source software is weak and needs to be protected. Open source would be succeeding faster if the GPL didn’t make lots of people nervous about adopting it.” (Quote found here)
The purpose of ther GPL is not to make people accept open source software – the GPL is about Free Software. Open Source software is in a legally and morally weaker position than Free Software. In addition to this the GPL contains within it a fundamental social goal which Open Source does not.
Open source is a method of production – Free Software is creating a social infrastructure which is not the property of anyone and therefore can be used freely by those who need or want it.
Abstrakt
Främsta syftet med denna magisteruppsats har varit att undersöka om svenska utvecklingsföretag är förberedda inför ett eventuellt införande av mjukvarupatent eller ej. Vi har för att ta reda på detta, samt för att utröna utvecklingsföretagens inställning och kunskaper om mjukvarupatent, genomfört en enkätundersökning. Vi har även tagit upp och diskuterat kring de argument som motståndare och förespråkare till mjukvarupatent
angivit. Detta har skett dels genom litteraturstudier, men även genom intervjuer med företrädare för de båda åsiktsgrupperna. I uppsatsen har vi även försökt avgöra huruvida mjukvarupatent kommer att befästas i lag eller ej, vilket bland annat har skett med hjälp av en åsiktsundersökning av samtliga svenska europaparlamentariker. I anslutning till analys och slutsats har vi tagit fram förslag på tänkbara verksamhetsstrategier till utvecklingsföretag, samt rekommendation till hur lagstiftare bör förhålla sig till mjukvarupatent.
Myndigheten för Sveriges nätuniversitet samt BIBSAM vid KB kommer att hålla ett heldagsseminarium i Stockholm den 21 september, där man ska diskutera tillgång till digitala lärresurser vid högskolorna. Creative Commons Sverige är inbjudna att tala.
Detaljprogram publiceras i slutet på augusti på NU och KBs hemsidor (http://www.myndigheten.netuniversity.se/ och http://www.kb.se/bibsam/bibsam.htm).
Abstract
The Creative Commons (CC) project was developed to help creative people share copyrighted material. This was done by creating a licensing scheme that could be applied, understood and communicated by non-lawyers. The project was launched in 2001 and took inspiration from the GNU General Public License. The first stage was the release of a set of copyright licenses free for public use. Following this CC has developed a Web application that helps people dedicate their creative works to the public domain or retain their copyright while licensing them as free for certain uses, under certain conditions.
The success of CC has led to its spread over many different legal jurisdictions and its application in many new areas. The purpose of this talk will be to briefly explain the CC licensing system and the use of meta-data in the licensing. In addition to this the internationalisation of CC will be presented from the viewpoint of the work of CC in Sweden.
Yesterday CC Sweden met with CC Norway in Oslo. Since both countries share a fundamental legal tradition we realised that it would be to everyones advantage if we worked closer together.
In addition to this we decided to change the present license which is mainly a translation to a more Scandinavian style license.
Dates:
The new version is to be ready within two weeks.
Translation into English & explanatory notes sent to CC International by the end of June
Porting process & Launch end of August?
We still need more interested people to help with CC Sweden – you do not have to be lawyers or hackers. We need people to help with content production, create CC music lists & work with media contacts.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will host an online forum on Intellectual Property in the Information Society – from June 1 to 15, 2005 – at http://www.wipo.int/ipisforum/. The forum will provide a unique opportunity for all to contribute to the emerging debate on the value of intellectual property in the information society.
“This initiative is part of WIPO?s continuing efforts to raise awareness about intellectual property issues, encourage debate and ensure that the intellectual property system is accessible, balanced and responsive to the needs of all stakeholders,” said Mrs. Rita Hayes, WIPO Deputy Director General. “WIPO is looking forward to a lively and extensive debate in the online forum.”
Online Forum on Intellectual Property in the Information Society
Vår förmåga att använda oss av offentlighetsprincipen är en grundläggande byggsten i vår demokrati. Detta innebär att vår oförmåga att se på hur myndigheternas programvara fungerar är en brist i vår demokratiska kontroll. Lika mycket som de flesta av oss inte använder offentlighetsprincipen så kommer vi inte att vilja studera källkod och mjukvara. Men rättigheten att kunna göra det kommer att garantera att andra intresserade grupper och media kommer att ha bättre insikt i den demokratiska processen.
Gästbloggare: Fri programvara som digital offentlighetsprincip | 24timmarsbloggen
Creative Commons Meets Open Access
How can Creative Commons work with Open Access and why is the Science Commons important?