& so to Cambridge to hear the illustrious Law Professor and Chair of Creative Commons - James Boyle, from the Centre for the Public Domain at Duke University - present a talk at Wolfson College, introduced by John Naughton. It takes me back, partially, to the CODE conference we did at Queen's College in the same city, in April 2001, when Boyle and Naughton were among the star turns at a pregnant and prescient moment in terms of IP law and all the associated issues, linked to the growth of interest in peer to peer production, the Microsoft anti trust case, IBM beginning to use Linux etc. It is funny that today's Guardian newspaper has an article in its Technology section mentioning that open source software is doing very well during (and because of) this global recession. Boyle's talk tonight manages to remind me of the importance of advocacy. Ben White from the British Library asked him a great question: given that politicians tend to respond best to emotion rather than wonderfully intricate and often correct cerebral arguments, how does one win out?
Hahha. That is indeed the question.........