OLPC Gets Blocked from Nigeria

[Jimmy 2004]

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.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Darkrealms]

LoL, now thats great! What a bunch of morons. Lets keep our country from technology while the rest of the world advances! Oh and destroy our own business in the process.
/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.

 

[newbielives]

Getting sting for doing something good.

That sucks

 

[panchoman]

wow, no offense to anyone but the NIGERIAN FOLK ARE BEING ABSOLUTE RETARDS!!!!!

 

[Jess Stingray]

I guess it's because their oil company relatives are so rich, they don't know the meaning of the word "charity".

 

[Chewy]

as one tpu user pointed out in Nigeria its a all for self mentality.. do whatever is necessary to get on top... but yeah, hopfully some militant group type brings that company some personal grief..

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.

 

[oli_ramsay]

What a bunch of retards, why sue a charity that helps children learn in under-developed countries like their own. If I lived there I would torch their building.

 

[Chewy]

Theres a mentality in Nigeria of all for one, that means do whatever you can to get ahead in life since its such a deprived place.. though the Company is prob already "fairly" well off they should lose that mentality but I guess the owner is a idiot/greedy Bas**rd lol.

 

[TheGuruStud]

kind of like the US purposefully keeping the school system attrocious

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.

 

[spacejunky]

All of you are defending OLPC as if it was actually created with honorable intentions and not about making money. It is no different than the bogus No Child Left Behind insurance scam the democrats keep throwing at you when it also covers families that make up to 85k/yr (Insurance companies and the AMA lobbies push hard for this). You put the word "child" in your product and who would dare argue against it? Look at how many replies there are in defense of OLPC and watch how many replies there are that will rip on me.

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.

 

[TheGuruStud]

Looks like the laptop is being sold at practically cost to me.

What are they all getting? A few cents on the dollar, seriously.

 

[Darkrealms]

All of you are defending OLPC as if it was actually created with honorable intentions and not about making money. It is no different than the bogus No Child Left Behind insurance scam the democrats keep throwing at you when it also covers families that make up to 85k/yr (Insurance companies and the AMA lobbies push hard for this). You put the word "child" in your product and who would dare argue against it? Look at how many replies there are in defense of OLPC and watch how many replies there are that will rip on me.

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.

In my mind its not about the OLPC as much as its about the company sueing them. I doubt OLPC will loose any money on their business and I'm sure they are making money. My point was that this company 1. is sueing one small company when it has been noted in previous posts on the subject that by their claim there are many company's that "violate" their patent. 2. The only achievement made was to stop free products from going to their own country. 3. I don't doubt it is "violating" something, just the attacking company isn't helping anyone muchless themselves.

 

[spacejunky]

In my mind its not about the OLPC as much as its about the company sueing them. I doubt OLPC will loose any money on their business and I'm sure they are making money. My point was that this company 1. is sueing one small company when it has been noted in previous posts on the subject that by their claim there are many company's that "violate" their patent. 2. The only achievement made was to stop free products from going to their own country. 3. I don't doubt it is "violating" something, just the attacking company isn't helping anyone muchless themselves.

The main point is that it is not free.
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?

dear seller, i am very much interested in your item. i am actually getting it for a friend as birthday gift in africa, and therefore will want the shipment to africa ( lagos-nigeria). his birthday is very nearby and i want him to receive this gift before his birthday or latest on his birthday. so i will like us to speed up this transaction. i will like to pay you$500.00 plus the cost of shipment(ups expr). my mode of payment will be western union auction payments (money order), so that upon receipt of confirmation and approval letter indicating your payment has been approved and guranteed , you shall release the package for shipment. if you agree with this terms , i would be grateful you provide me with your full name and contact address with which payment will be made out. i assure that when your details is sent , your payment will be made immediately. thanks for your understanding

 

[Darkrealms]

The main point is that it is not free.
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?

LoL, can't argue with that arguement!
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.

 

[Darkrealms]

Well maybe I stand corrected . . . Today Intel walked away from OLPC . . .
Perhaps the company isn't that bright.