[Linux-aus] IP Research project

[Pia Smith]

Hi all,

Linux Australia has been invited, along with any interested community
members to participate in a long term IP research project. Linux
Australia is determining how we can support such a project, and see it
is a step forward in solving our IP issues in Australia, hopefully
making a safer and more sane IP situation for developers and Australia
ICT companies, as well as consumers. It is certainly a good opportunity
to get involved and have your say in this area. Check it out, and if
interested, please forward to you LUG, or any other groups you feel
would be relevant. Contact David Vaile for any information, his contact
details are below.

Cheers,
Pia

THE DETAILS:
The Principal Investigator is Graham Greenleaf, Professor of IT Law at
UNSW. He is the architect of AustLII, the world's largest collection of
public-domain legal resources. He has an excellent record of extracting
money from research funds. 

He has formed a team comprising the leading thinkers in copyright and
intellectual property law and policy in Australia. He is seeking funding
for a research programme related to your interests in the Open Source
area.

The members of the principal industry partner and sponsor AEShareNet Ltd
have been working with him for several years, particularly in the last
year in developing the November conference on 'Unlocking IP' and now
this Proposal.

The project manager, David Vaile, is the executive director of the Baker
& McKenzie Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre at UNSW, a former lawyer,
software developer and online producer who has worked with Linux
Australia and other Open Source software advocates on initiatives like
the Open Source Forum, the recent visit of Richard Stallman, education
of politicians about impact of proposed changes to IP laws, and the
forthcoming conference. 

A 1-page description of the background, objectives and team are in the
attachment. A 10-page draft document is available.

The rules of Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grants are that
'Partner Investigators' (industry partners) must provide cash and
in-kind contributions. If approved, the cash injection from the ARC is 3
times that from Partners.

RATIONALE:
1. Open source and related intellectual property issues are relevant to
your business 
2. Enormous change is taking place 
3. Executives in the software sector and the broader IT sector are only
slowly becoming aware how critical this matter is, and the potential
complexities of integrating open source and other models into commercial
practice 
4. So it's up to interested participants to take the initiative 
5. This is an opportunity to get research funding into the area 
6. You can have leverage on the direction of the research, both through
influencing the formative phases, and as a sponsor

TIMING
End of this week: participants confirmed
November: Application submitted
Next March/April: ARC funding decision
2005-2007: research project (incremental deliverables along the way) 

THE PROPOSAL:
That your organisation commit either resources or money to this project.
In terms of funding, the project is looking for $5,000 p.a. per
participant or more in each of calendar 2005, 2006 and 2007 to a
Research Programme entitled 'Unlocking IP', coordinated by the
University of N.S.W. Faculty of Law. 

In addition to or in place of funding, your organisation can offer an in
kind contribution to the project, typically by making some of your
relevant experts available to work on research activities of mutual
interest, ideally for a minimum average of one day per fortnight (at
times suited to your schedule). They can in this time work mostly on
your site (except for possibly the odd workshop or conference), and on
projects directly relevant to your organisation as well as the project.

As well as the direct benefit of your contributions to the project,
industry support of this nature is highly leveraged by the Australian
Research Council, which in effect offers up to $3 for every $1 cash
contributed by industry. So a minumum contribution of the nature
discussed here ($5k/yr plus some in kind input) can be enough to support
the employment of a postgraduate researcher.

Participants include:

David Vaile
Executive Director
Baker & McKenzie Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre
Email: d.vaile at unsw.edu.au, davidv at pobox.com
Faculty of Law (Mathews 1205)
UNSW Sydney NSW 2052 Australia
W: http://www.bakercyberlawcentre.org/


Roger Clarke 
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd 
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au 
http://www.xamax.com.au/
http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/
Visiting Professor in the eCommerce Program, University of Hong Kong 
Visiting Professor in the Baker Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre U.N.S.W 
Visiting Fellow in Computer Science, Australian National University

Graham Greenleaf 
Professor of Law 
Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales 
Co-Director, Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) 
Co-Director, Baker & McKenzie Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre 
General Editor, Privacy Law & Policy Reporter 
http:/iinet.net.au/~greenleaf/plpr/
E-mail: g.greenleaf at unsw.edu.au or graham at austlii.edu.au
Web Pages - http://www2.austlii.edu.au/~graham/
Legal Scholarship Network (LSN) pages - http://ssrn.com/author=57970

CONFIDENTIAL - provided to Linux Australia members solely to enable
assessment of their potential participation in the research project. Not
for publication, attribution, re-use or distribution.

Cheers,
-- 
Pia Smith
President of Linux Australia
http://linux.org.au