🚀 go-pugleaf

In an article (Message-Id: <1991Jul19.134052.24908@rodan.acs.syr.edu>), 
you (edelsohn@sccs.syr.edu (David Edelsohn)) wrote:

| 	Has the League for Programming Freedom contacted any of the news
| media about the PTO RFC?  The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's interest
| has given the issue a new timeliness which might elevate the story's
| newsworth in the eyes of CNN Special Assignment or ABC News Nightline, for
| example.  If Joe Q. Public is convinced that current computer software patent
| law is a threat to the entrepreneurial spirit of the U.S.A., the status quo
| will change faster than any recommendations by the PTO could elicit.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has a programme called Venture (Sunday
evenings after the national news, ca. 10:20 or 10:30 to 11:00 pm, EST, for
all of you who tap the Anik III satellite) which has already done at least
two shows on the topic of U.S. patents as restrictions on competition both
internal and international.  CBC is used to selling transcripts and
videocassettes and also sells programming to the BBC and Australia's ABC.

This issue was also dealt with once on the late-lamented CBLFT, the former
Societe Radio Canada (CBC in French) local Toronto station.

There are several programmes on CBC radio (the national network on AM 740
kHz, and also Radio Canadi International on shortwave) which would deal with
the issue as well.  The first show that comes to mind is Quirks and Quarks
(aka Nerds and Dorks, our national science programme, which is quite good in
terms of technical knowledge) Saturdays at noon.  There are other
possibilities too, like As It Happens, which is variety news, and is pumped
into the U.S. on the NPR network (Mon-Fri, 6:30-8:00 pm EST (although most NPR
stations drop it at 7:30), right after They Twirled at Six, CBC's
international news spot).  Their answering is always on, and they often base
stories on messages that are left for them.  If someone from LPF or even a
few individuals were to suggest the story and offer some material, I don't
doubt that they will look into the whole issue of software patents.

I don't know U.S. Public Radio all that well, but they might be interested
too.

I doubt, though, that this story will soon see the light of day on
commercial television news, or in most newspapers, for that matter.

| David Edelsohn                                          Dept of Physics
| Syracuse Center for Computational Science               201 Physics Bldg

-- 
Sean Doran <smd@lsuc.ON.CA>   La Societe du Barreau du Haut-Canada
                              The Law Society of Upper Canada