On Wed, Sep 24, 2014 at 1:25 AM, Dimitar Parvanov Dimitrov <dimitar.parvanov.dimitrov@gmail.com> wrote:Here the main requests and my comments:Salut la liste!I had an Observatory meeting of the WG "IP in the digital world" which will deal with our study. Had a chance to discuss things with the Observatory's economists and we decided to engage in a more intensive discussion over email, phone and at the annual plenary in Alicante next month. In the room it was basically just me and the economist speaking as no other member (i.e. none of the industry representatives) seemed to show an interest in this one.
1. They really want us to compile a list of sectors.
I asked for a economic modelling study that assess the whole situation, but they aren't keen on this. Apparently their budget for this for 2015 is 25.000 Euro and - I am really quoting here - they want something "quick&credible".Additionally they want to make this study a counterpoint to their IP contribution study [1], which was released last year. This was also our initial starting point, as we wanted to be able to say "yes, IP is important but it builds up on a thriving commons". In the first study they just used a number of industry sectors and looked at it. They proposed we should start by taking this list and amending it as we see fit. ([2] page 27 ff.)My feeling is that we should go for this approach as a start, but I am a bit scared that this could limit the results not in our favour. A longer list with sectors we know free&open is king would help. Also, the Observatory has a tendency to do follow-up and complementary studies, so I could very well see them continuing with such research after this initial experiment.What a frustratingly framed question. I am half-tempted to respond with the list of Disney movies based on public domain works ;)2. They really want to know if infringements is a problem for usThe official name of the Observatory being "EU Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights", they seemed really keen on including infringements of PD&OL in the study. I said I could give them a few case studies or examples, but hadn't heard of any studies on this. Should we give in and let them do research on this, although it might take focus off the economic contribution part?If it helps them act at all, I can't see how it hurts us to have them think about it. It's not the most frustrating mis-framing to come out of Brussels. :)I was pointed by an acquaintance at these studies that are specific to the use of open source in the Android App Store (a space that is easy to study):The headline number is that they found 71% non-compliance in the first study; down to 38% of apps non-compliant in the followup (in 2012).The press releases for the initial study and a follow-up are here:I also wrote aaa 3-part blog series on the research, results, etc. here: