CALL FOR PAPERS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN COMPUTER SOFTWARE AND THEIR IMPACT ON DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. Organized by INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION FOR INFORMATION PROCESSING (IFIP WG9.4) and COMPUTER SOCIETY OF INDIA (CSI) in cooperation with JAWAHARLAL NEHRU CENTRE FOR ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH (JNC) & INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE (IISc) DATES: August 20-21, 1993 VENUE: Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore INDIA BACKGROUND Since the landmark judgement on a software-related invention in 1981 in the US, and the many litigations involving user interface copyrights, the issue of intellectual property in software has become crucial. This has become all the more important since the beginning of Uruguay Round of the GATT talks in 1987, where the issue of protection of intellectual property has been debated in a general setting. Most recently (late 1991), the Secretary General of GATT (Arthur Dunkel) has proposed a draft (the Dunkel Draft Text - DDT) for consideration by the world community. The question of intellectual property in computer software is not well understood, and DDT contains many new proposals that affect this area and that may have far reaching effects in the future. This conference has been proposed as a venue for examining the issue of intellectual property in software and its impact on developing countries. This has become very pressing as many developing countries are hoping to generate jobs and exports through computer software. THE CHOICES BEFORE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES The sophistication of a nation's information economy determines how effectively its physical resources are utilised. Information technology is important in effecting a mature information economy. Productivity software that is used in developed countries is much too expensive for use in most developing economies. If such software is to be developed in developing countries due to cost reasons, it has to conform with standard interfaces and also respect intellectual property rights extant at the time. These requirements make such software costlier or harder to develop. The DDT proposals make contracting governments responsible for enforcing these rights. Hence, it is crucial to investigate the choices before developing countries in the area of intellectual property rights. INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION FOR INFORMATION PROCESSING (IFIP) IFIP has set up a working group (IFIP WG9.4) called ``Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries'' with the objective of promoting discussion of information technology issues relevant to developing countries. The proposed conference, in line with this objective, is to be organized by IFIP WG9.4 and the Computer Society of India in cooperation with Indian Institute of Science. CALL FOR PAPERS Papers are invited on, but not limited to, the following topics: How well is the existing IPR regime in software currently working in developed and developing countries? Do developing countries need alternative IPR regimes? Comparative evaluation and impact on a country's economy of different patent regimes: cost of IPR to developing economies Creation, classification and access to software patent databases: Issues and various attempts Current defensive techniques for avoiding IPR difficulties Landmark legal case studies of IPR disputes and their resolution Case studies of the workings of national patent offices in the area of software: developed and developing countries Impact of Dunkel proposals in developed and developing countries Nature and distribution of software patents and actual ownership: Cross-licensing Perspectives of established software companies in developed countries wrt developing countries in the area of IPR Licensing of technologies to developing countries: current and past experience High cost of productivity software: Strategies and options for developing countries. Control of unauthorised duplication of software in developed and developing countries: Strategies and options Strategies and options for developing countries post-Dunkel: Manpower training? Impact of ``open systems'' like IBM PC for world economy: Free Software Foundation and other efforts at universities for ``ftp''able software IPR in automatically generated code Philosophical/equity issues in assigning IPR to ``common property resources'' Case studies of how IPR were articulated and enforced in new technologies in the past Similarities and differences with IPR in other areas like biotechnology E-mail submission is strongly encouraged, esp. in Latex / Wordstar format. (All e-mail submissions will be acknowledged - please remail if there is no ack.) If e-mail facility is not available, authors should submit five copies of the manuscript in A4 size paper not exceeding 20 pages. Papers will be selected through a referral process. The proceedings of the conference will be published by North Holland under an arrangement with IFIP. Authors should correspond with: K. Gopinath, Asst. Prof. Computer Science & Automation (CSA), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore 560012 INDIA Telex: 0845-8349 IISc IN Fax: 091-0812-341683 e-mail: ipr@maitreyi.csa.iisc.ernet.in ADVISORY COMMITTEE: Maj. Gen. A. Balasubrahmanian, IFIP VP Prof. S. Bhatnagar, IFIP WG9.4 Chair, IIMA Prof. V. Krishnan, JNC Brig. S. V. S. Chowdhury, CSI President Prof. V. Rajaraman, IISc Dr. S. Ramani, NCST Prof. N. Balakrishnan, IISc G. Ramachandran, CSI Vice President Dr. R. Srinivasan, NAL Prof. Udipi Srinivasa, IISc Prof. Vinod Vyasulu, ISEC Prof. N. Viswanadham, IISc ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: General Chair: D.K. Subramanian(IISc) Conference Secretary: S. Manohar (IISc) Industrial Liaison: B.S. Kotwal (CSI), S. Tanga (CSI) Convention: T.J. Matthew, H. Krishnamurty (IISc), L. Sawhney (CSI) Tutorials: J. Haritsa (IISc) Finance: A. Kololgi (CSI), R. Balasubramaniam (CSI), V. Chandru (IISc) Registration: V.L.Swaminathan (CSI) Hospitality: Nagaraja Rao (JNC) Publicity: U. Srinivas (IISc) PROGRAM COMMITTEE: J. Reichman (Vanderbilt) RM Stallman (Free Software Foundation) R. Narasimhan (CMC, India) P. Samuelson (Pittsburgh/CACM) BK Chandrasekhar (IIMB, India) D.S. Karjala, Arizona (US) / Max Planck (Germany) R. Heeks (Manchester, UK / IFIP WG9.4) R. Sadananda, AIT, Bangkok K. Gopinath (IISc, India / IFIP WG9.4) IMPORTANT DATES FOR AUTHORS Full Paper May 1, 1993 Acceptance notice June 15, 1993 Final manuscript July 15, 1993 TECHNICAL PROGRAMME The conference, a mix of invited and contributed papers and panel discussions, will be of 2 days duration. All sessions will be plenary. The official language of the conference will be English. REGISTRATION The registration fee is Rs. 600 / $100 which will cover lunches and teas. Participants from developing countries may apply for subsidy from the registration committee. About 100 participants are expected. ACCOMMODATION Accommodation arrangements should be made directly by participants. It is expected that some housing will be made available in the Institute Guest House. Details will be made available later. BANGALORE The weather in Bangalore in August is mild and pleasant. The state of Karnataka has many attractions in terms of wildlife and architecture. Arrangements can be made for those desiring to visit interesting sights. ENQUIRIES: Please mail the following information to (preferably by e-mail): K. Gopinath, Asst. Prof. Computer Science & Automation (CSA), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore 560012 INDIA Telex: 0845-8349 IISc IN Fax: 091-0812-341683 e-mail: ipr@maitreyi.csa.iisc.ernet.in I wish to submit a paper on the following topic: I wish to attend as a delegate Name: Position: Organisation: e-mail Address: Address: Postal code: Country: Telephone: Telex: Telefax: