[vox] [OT] On Bill Gates, philanthropist

[Peter Jay Salzman]

wow, very dramatic.

i kind of wish they had some more information on TRIPS, and some
references to follow for those who care to learn more.

as usual, i'm sure the "truth" is somewhere in between this article and
the PR guys of the B&M gaes foundation...

this might shed a little more light on the situation:

   http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/trips_e.htm

pete



On Fri 05 Dec 03, 10:09 AM, Bill Kendrick <nbs@sonic.net> said:
> 
> I was quickly browsing the latest SCO commentary by Lawrence Lessig, and
> noticed this interesting article linked-to in one of the reader comments:
> 
>   http://www.guerrillanews.com/sci-tech/doc2398.html
> 
>     "Gate's demi-trillionaire status is based on a nasty little
>     monopoly-protecting trade treaty called 'TRIPS' --
>     the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights rules of the
>     World Trade Organization.  TRIPS gives Gates a hammerlock on
>     computer operating systems worldwide, legally granting him a
>     monopoly that the Robber Barons of yore could only dream of.
>     But TRIPS, the rule which helps Gates rule, also bars African
>     governments from buying AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis medicine
>     at cheap market prices."
> 
> It's written a little dramatically, but is definitely interesting.
> 
> Sorry for being so off-topic, but for being annoyed at Microsoft
> (both due to software -- laptop just blue-screened! -- and due to they
> way the act in general), I always felt it hard to _totally_ dislike
> Gates himself, due to his contributions.  Now they seem a little less 'good.'
> 
> Bleah.  Bad taste in mouth now.  Need more coffee... :^P
> 
> -bill!
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