Open-Source, Closed Minds

Lawrence Lessig in his article "Open-Source, Closed Minds":

Heavy lobbying by Microsoft Corp. succeeded in quashing a recent meeting by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to consider the trend by world governments toward open, nonproprietary technologies. How did they get away with it?

Lessig is right when saying: "But we don't pay government officials to be second-rate lobbyists for powerful corporations. Independent and informed judgment should be the standard."

There are positive signs from Germany: not only the decision of the City of Munich to install Linux on 14,000 computers throughout city administration, but also the open discussion on the federal level ...