[p2p-research] urgent blog/posting issue (copy of article on:Is the P2P movement reaching the early phases of mass mobilization?)

[Michel Bauwens]

Hi James,

I'm in a cybercafe, and suddenly the blog becomes unavailable, in the midst
of posting an article ... I can't save it,

so,

could you post it, post-dating on april 30 ??

The title shoud be: Is the P2P movement reaching the early phases of mass
mobilization?

start article:



This could be an erroneous interpretation based on my too limited historical
memory, but if two news items make a trend, then we can conclude that the
global p2p movement is starting to move into a different phase, that from
countercultural transgression, into active political mobilization.

The first item concerns <a href="
http://torrentfreak.com/swedes-demonstrate-against-pirate-bay-verdict-090418/">thedemonstration
by Pirate Party sympathizers </a>against the Pirate Bay
verdict, bringing 1,000 people on the street in Stockholm.

The <a href="
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/04/18/farmers-politicians-free-software-fans-demonstrate-against-patents/">secondmobilization
</a>is even more significant, because of the broad coalition it
represents, i.e. the recent German demonstration against pig breeding
patents.

In summary:

<blockquote>"Bringing a herd of pigs to the European Patent Office (EPO)
between one and two thousand protesters asked for an end of patents on
animals, plants and breeding and for changes in European patent law.
Representatives of the “No Patents on Seeds” alliance during the event
delivered 5,000 complaints to the EPO against a patent on pig breeding
granted by the EPO to US company Monsanto last year."</blockquote>

Here are more details about the issue:

<em>"In a study commissioned by Greenpeace, Then and his co-author Ruth
Tippe listed 40 patents on breeding methods for pigs, cows or plants, most
of them already granted by the EPO. Then ridiculed the inventive step of
these patents by comparing them to the selection of elephants for breeding
depending on average nose length measured with a yard stick.

After the pig breeding patent had been granted, farmers “started to pay
attention to the issue and are asking what this office is up to,” Tippe told
the protesters. She collected the 5,000 individual complaints against the
pig breeding patent. These complaints now have to be checked by the EPO and
sent to Newsham for comments.

Tippe underlined the concern of German farmer associations that the breeding
patents would lead to a complete dependence on large multinational companies
and an end to free farming despite assurances by the EPO that the patents
did not include the animals themselves."</em>

Obviously (most probably) most of the demonstrators would be unaware of the
inter-relation between open/free, participatory, and commons oriented
practices and value systems, which together make the P2P ethos, nevertheless
I think it is a significant mobilization, since it is a conscious defense
against the intellectual property enclosures through patents, and a struggle
for autonomy in farming.

-- 
Working at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhurakij_Pundit_University -
http://www.dpu.ac.th/dpuic/info/Research.html -
http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI

Volunteering at the P2P Foundation:
http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net -
http://p2pfoundation.ning.com

Monitor updates at http://del.icio.us/mbauwens

The work of the P2P Foundation is supported by SHIFTN,
http://www.shiftn.com/
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