Wednesday, January 2nd 2008
OLPC Gets Blocked from Nigeria
Some readers may remember the story posted on techPowerUp! at the end of November about a Nigerian firm which was trying to sue the non-profit One Laptop Per Child project regarding some of the features on the XO laptop's keyboard. According to Groklaw, this lawsuit has now begun and an interim injunction is preventing the laptop being distributed in Nigeria - an interim which could potentially last for months. The Nigerian firm, known as Lagos Analysis Corp (LANCOR), is also seeking a permanent injunction and $20 million in damages. The OLPC project did not appear in court but it is expected to "aggressively respond shortly" according to the site.
Source:
Groklaw
14 Comments on OLPC Gets Blocked from Nigeria
/end rant
So now Nigerians won't be able to get FREE technology to help their learning. The locals should go down and destroy that company. As I recall half the keyboard manufacturers out there should be brought out by their claim, LoL.
That sucks :banghead:
humm prob not a very well off company, otherwise I doubt they would be doing that... I donno if there are alot of people that are well off in Nigeria to purchase thier computers/keyboard, is that the only place that company sells thier computers? cause if it is thier probably lack in the financial department but Im prob wrong and thier well off.
less intelligent people = easier to control and more profit (b/c you will buy the literal shit that they make and not a competitor's better product, if you even need it in the first place)
yeah, it's a fair bit different, but with the gov't and corp. one and the same, it sadly isn't a greatly different situation.
Now, I am not against the underdeveloped nations investing in their children but I will not overlook the fact that the OLPC company may or may not have infringed on someone else's patent. No one knows if LANCOR actually approached them to make a royalty deal or not and no one knows if there is any real truth behind their claim or not. After the trial we will know.
OLPC wants the governments to pay for their product which means the people pay for it. They also want the UN to pay for it which means we pay for it and it will probably cost triple after all the UN's red tape and corruption. Understand, OLPC is a business and its purpose is to make money no different than Disney or Microsoft. How would you feel if Microsoft violated an Open Source agreement that Mozilla or Linux had? Or rather if Mozilla was accused of violating a Microsoft patent?
With that being said, it would not surprise me if LANCOR, being a Nigerian company, is full of smoke and just wants a piece of the action. Time will tell.
What are they all getting? A few cents on the dollar, seriously.
They wouldn't be suing them if there was nothing to gain. OLPC wants the Nigerian govt. to pay for them.
It's probably for the best anyways...The last thing I want to see are more Nigerian scammers on eBay and craigslist. Do you think the Nigerian OLPC comes preloaded with copy and paste scam emails, in poor English, about sending a money order to their uncle's sister? :nutkick:
Thought we were paying for them when we bought one, one was sent to a developing country. Thats the promotion I've heard from them.
Perhaps the company isn't that bright.