Use open source? Then you're a pirate!

superapecommando writes: There's a fantastic little story in the Guardian today that says a US lobby group is trying to get the US government to consider open source as the equivalent to piracy.
The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), an umbrella group for American publishing, software, film, television and music associations, has asked with the US Trade Representative (USTR) to consider countries like Indonesia, Brazil and India for its "Special 301 watchlist" because they encourage the use of open source software.
A Special 301, according to Guardian's Bobbie Johnson is: "a report that examines the 'adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property rights' around the planet — effectively the list of countries that the US government considers enemies of capitalism. It often gets wheeled out as a form of trading pressure — often around pharmaceuticals and counterfeited goods — to try and force governments to change their behaviours."
Read more: http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=2811&blogid=10

As long as they're at it...

[ctsupafly]

might as well add France to the list. Those Open Office using, Ubuntu adopting Frenchies are stealing money right out of Microsoft's pockets.

All I can says is....

[gestalt_n_pepper]

Arrrrrh!

Yo ho, yo ho!

If I'm a pirate for using open source

[MonsterTrimble]

then I'm Captain Jack Sparrow.

Either way I can't lose!

who watches the watchmen?

[ErkDemon]

I think that these people [iipa.com] are harming the US software industry and its image abroad, discrediting existing antipiracy schemes and undermining the successful open-source sector, where the US is arguably a world-leader. They're trying to prop up old inefficient business models and the companies that apply them, at the expense of newer more dynamic models operated by more efficient companies that often produce better and more flexible products. These people [iipa.com] are undermining the credibility of the Western capita