World Product
Here is food for thought
A survey of publicly traded companies in the United States has reviewed that almost 70% of them have intangible assets like intellectual properties as their main asset base, rather than tangible asset like plant and equipment. A good example is Coca-Cola, which have many bottling plants all over the world but when all its tangible assets are added up, it could not even come near the value of its intellectual property brand name! And in today’s crisis enameled economy, it would be fool hardy to use a business model that is heavily based on tangible assets and other old world practice. You would probably be swept aside by those cheap labored third world manufacturers that can easily crank up their machineries in double quick time.
Especially for new start ups where capital is always in short supply, basing their business model on intangible assets like innovations and patents is the only viable method to outlast the competitions. However, it is important that in that market that they operate, there should be adequate intellectual property protection and enforcements so that they don’t get ripped off by counterfeiters. In these scenarios, it becomes of utmost importance that the governments of the day seek good reciprocal trade agreements with their trading partners before allowing their citizens to even venture into cross border trading of any sorts. Such is the importance of intangible asset protections; and where countries that don’t respect IP protection is concerned, they should be ready to face the consequences of trade exclusions. Bear this in mind when you are venturing into the world of business.
How tough can a copyright law get? Can we look at Korea then?
Just consider this. Every major Hollywood studio has given up on distributing their DVD’s in Korea. The reason; media piracy is so profuse that the legit copies just can’t be sold. In an apparent overhaul of the copyright law, the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will grant the relevant authorities the right to suspend web account users that illegally transfer copyrighted materials en-mass using p2p systems. The suspension will last an initial six months and will be enforced this month.
However, many in the industry are worried about the authorities’ definition of ‘copyrighted content,’ as not clear cut enough. Music, videos and article contents will be covered under copyrighted materials. Coming under disputes will be blog postings, twitter repost, and short descriptions that websites used for pointing to contents that reside else where. So are You-Tube video clips that are not self produced. The popular Korean based social networking service Cyworld has responded by urging its users to thread with caution; least users incur complaints from copyright owners. In an apparent move to allay fears, the authorities have come out to say that the restrictions are only aimed at persistent illegal file downloader and commercial pirates operating in the country.
Still, a lot of unease has been generated among the internet user communities as most ordinary people can’t decipher the law correctly, especially those that are designed for use with new media. Small timers usually don’t have the resources to fight on legal battles brought on by giant corporations. As for the authorities, they have put in a safety net for the little fellows with their ‘three-strikes’ ruling where only persistent defaulters (caught more than three times) will have their access terminated permanently. An added ruling is that action can be taken even if there are no complaints been lodged, so what the authorities says is the final word! Perhaps more intellectual property lawyers have to be produced to cope with impending large number of infringement cases going into 2010 and beyond?
July 23, 2009.
When you work on the computer, Big Brother knows everything you do.
If you work for someone, and you need to use their computers to do your work, then all your activities will be logged for the management to see. This is the scenario that we will see in the coming months, probably by the end of next year. Why, you might ask? According to the Times Online, they have come across a patent filed by Microsoft, which is aimed at logging in what an employee does while working on their computers. We already have software that can log in what the surfers on the internet do, but it seems that Big Brother is going one step further by logging in every time you turn that computer on.
Microsoft says that its new program will, besides doing other stuffs, automatically monitor the user’s stress levels, and it would then offer assistance accordingly. It will profile the employee based on their weight and age, and continue to tag them as they use the computer. So, managers will have the latest reports on the employee’s health and in real time as well, even remotely! It is reported that the program takes into consideration the user’s heart rate, body temperature, movement, blood pressure, and even facial expression. It is however not known what types of sensors the users have to wear in order for the program to function, but still, people can find a way to frustrate it or at least to false feed it. Big Brother might be made to know the wrong thing then?
August 20, 2009.
A nuclear battery for your mobile phone?
As the need for ever smaller batteries to power nano devices gathers steam, a team of researchers from the University of Missouri (MU) is looking into the prospect of down sizing the nuclear battery (used to power satellite devices) to a level that can be used for devices including mobile phones and MP3s. It does sound dangerous but the team from MU is confident that they can be safely used for small devices. They have already brought down the size of a working model to a penny size form factor and are pursuing a hair thin unit later on. Nuclear batteries do not use nuclear chain reactions for power but instead uses radio active isotopes. Its other innovation is that it used a liquid semiconductor. There is however a need to increase battery power and efficiency.
October 15, 2009.
