Jim Moore’s blog: Innovation, Strategy, Public Policy

Dan is our favorite VC at TopTenMedia.  Here is his interview with BusinessWeek, fresh:

http://www.businessweek.com/mediacenter/qt/podcasts/podcasting/podcastbiz_08_30_06.mp3

From Dave Winer:  Writely can be used to write posts for YOUR blog!
Of course this is what every application ought to do.  Every application ought to save-to-blog and/or print-to-blog and/or just “send to blog.”

I learned something today on my walk that I did not know. Writely,
the Google-acquired web-based word processor, can generate RSS. This I
have to check out. If it works well, that means that Writely is
actually a blogging tool. Could it possibly be that cool? I’ll report
back. BTW, it came from the NY Times Tech Talk podcast.  >

Postscript: Hold on to your hats, Writely supports the Metaweblog API. That’s awesome! >

The patent process is the most
“open source” form of protection for intellectual property.  Consider
by way of contrast trade secrets.  Trade secrets are “closed
source” inventions.   The core innovation embodied in a trade secret
is carefully hidden from the public and from other members of an industry,
perhaps forever.

If trade secrets were the main form of protection used
by inventors and companies, industrial innovation would slow.  The guilds
of the Middle Ages perfected trade secrets as a way to limit diffusion of
innovation and to secure the monopolies of their members.

By law a patent must describe
the invention so that one “schooled in the ordinary arts” of an
industry can replicate it.  A patent must make plain how to replicate its
invention, and indeed how to infringe it.  Disclosure is one of the core
social benefits of the patent process.  The patent process forces
inventors to disclose to others how to do things. 

Competitors and would-be competitors are
given the knowledge they need to innovate, to work around a patent, to
go it one better.  This is how the
patent process is intended to work, this is how the process was designed.  The process
is pro-innovation because it requires openness and sharing of ideas.  The process balances the rights of
individuals to the fruits of their work with the right of the community to
learn from that work and innovate beyond its ideas.

Matthew Ingram and I had an
brief exchange about the Apple/Creative settlement in comments
to his post on the story.

Matthew said

Thanks for the comment, Jim.
I am definitely in favour of patents, and there’s no question that they help
smaller companies level the playing field with larger ones. But don’t you think
there was some level of obviousness about the navigation scheme that Creative
patented? Just curious.

Matthew makes a very very important point.  One
can be pro-patent–as I am–but against bad patents.

So I went back this morning and studied the
Creative patent, which is available here.  I am not qualified to evaluate the obviousness of the patent in any
legal sense, as I am not a lawyer.  I am an inventor and student of
innovation.  On the other hand, I do care about patents and patent
quality, so I found it interesting to examne the patent from this
standpoint.  An invention, to be worthy of the name, should be an original and creative
contribution to society.

Reading the patent I felt is a sense of obviousness of the form “wow, that seems
simple.” This, however, may be an indication of the value of the
invention, rather than a defect in the process of issuing the patent. 
The Creative patent seems obvious because the solution has become a
defacto standard for digital media players, especially the iPod. 

Honestly, I feel that the inventors made a real contribution.  What they did was apply personal computer jukebox ideas to the user interface on a personal storage device, and in essence invented the personal media player. That seems original to me.  What Apple seems to have done is take that idea and combine it with a music download service and a personal computer jukebox, to create an even fuller solution, and the basis for a successful business ecosystem.

I am not qualified to comment on the obviousness of the patent in the legal sense.  A patent must pass a “test of obviousness” in order to be awarded.  This means that the patent must not simply be an extension of ideas already invented.  A new form of car engine might be patentable, a larger version of the same engine would not be.  In order to evaluate the legal obviousness of the Creative invention, one needs to review the prior art that either existed
at the time in the marketplace, and/or that had been published at the
patent office.  If there existed at the time of the patent other
versions of a menu system of this nature for small devices, these would
be, I believe, the sources on which a legal argument for obviousness
would rest.

It is worth noting that if there were prior art of this sort, it is
likely that Apple’s attorneys would have found it. And if there were
issued patents that made this invention seem obvious, Apple or others
would likely have brought that information forward.  In addition, if a
third-party small company had held such patents, it is likely Apple
would have tried to buy that company.

Sustainable peace and sustainable development

If we hope for peace in the Middle East and we hope for peace and a sustainable society in Israel, as I do, as well as for peace in Palestine and Lebanon, we should question Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s leadership, as well as that of the Bush administration and US Secretary of State Rice.

The Secretary calls for “sustainable peace” in Lebanon.   Her condition?  The military destruction of Hezbollah.  Unfortunately, her theory of sustainability is narrow and naive.

Sustainable peace in southern Lebanon requires the region become an active, effective participant in the greater nation of Lebanon, integrated economically and socially as well as militarily.  Peace in southern Lebanon requires civil society, civil institutions, well-functioning businesses, healthy villages and neighborhoods, and secure families.  Consider Thomas Friedman’s formula:  If you want peace in any region, support the development of a middle class.  Promote a sense of confidence and trust in young people, so that they put their energies into constructive personal development, constructive social movements, and democratic institutions.  Sustainable peace requires sustainable development.

Over the past few days, the post-cease-fire situation in southern Lebanon has been surprisingly promising when viewed from the perspective of sustainable development.  Hezbollah and its allies have turned to bulldozers, Iran has promised support for economic and social development.  In response to this, the anti-Iran Arab nations and the United States have themselves stepped up to offer economic aid.  The locus of competition in South Lebanon has taken a highly public turn toward social and economic development, and away from extremism and war-making.

One can question whether this turn is truly genuine and sustainable.  Whatever you believe, this turn is certainly more encouraging in both tone and substance then what is happening in Iraq and other crisis zones.

Winning or losing the peace

I personally believe the competition to rebuild Lebanon provides a promising starting point for new positive momentum in the Middle East.  Competition may be shifting from “winning the war” to “winning the peace.” If so, I am encouraged.  I believe strongly that the way to win the peace in Lebanon, and in the Middle East more broadly, is by investing in what economists and sociologists call “human capital” and social capacity.  Robust social ecosystems are the only long-term way to resist the weeds of extremism, fundamentalism, nationalism, and terrorism in both insurgent and establishment forms. 

The key element in establishing social capacity is trust–trust that constructive creations will not be destroyed, trust that personal investments in skills and education will be rewarded with economic security and growth, and trust that one’s society is moving toward justice and durable human relationships.

I would hope that all world leaders involved in moving forward in this current moment would find ways promote the fragile atmosphere of trust that has for the moment stopped the rockets and stopped the bombing.  I would hope that world leaders would focus on social development, peace-making, and winning the peace.

So what has the Olmert administration in Israel done in the days since the cease fire?  It has continued to focus almost exclusively on
war-making.  It has continued down a path that will almost surely lose the peace.

1. The Olmert administration has wrung its hands over the incompetence of its military
operation, and said nothing about a positive vision for the future of either Israel
or its neighbors.  This is in sharp contrast
to the constructive vision, propaganda or sincere (take your pick) coming out
of Hezbollah and Iran.

2.  At the height of
the popularity of the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon, a high-level Olmert government official is signaling that Israel intends
to assassinate him: 

Despite a cease-fire agreement, Isreal intends to do its best to keep Iran and Syria from rearming Hezbollah and
to kill the militia’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, says a senior Israeli
commander.  (August 20, 2006 New
York Times/Herald Tribune)

3.  Because of the recent raid, Israel is now widely perceived as the first
to violate the truce.  Israel has promised
more such raids, and seeks to justify them under the terms of
the truce agreement.

Under the terms of the truce, Israeli troops are allowed to defend
themselves if attacked, and have done so on occassion.  However, the
recent raid was carried out many miles from any existing group of
troops, and appears to many observers to be an offensive action under the terms of the agreement.

An Israel, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mark
Regev, said, “If the Syrians and the Iranians continue to arm Hezbollah in
violation of the resolution, Israel is entitled to act to defend the principle
of the arms embargo.”

But in a statement on the United Nations Web site,
Mr. Annan’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said the secretary general considered
the raid a violation of the resolution and it followed “several air
violations.” Such violations, he said, “endanger the fragile calm.”  (NY
Times 8/20/2006)

4.  The raid itself was notable both for its high profile and for its apparent tactical
failure.  The raid threatened the peace and emboldening military opposition on
the ground in Lebanon—perhaps
the worst combination result imaginable:

The raid took place overnight under the cover of
sonic booms from Israeli jets flying overhead, which occur often over Lebanon.
But this time they masked the sound of helicopters bringing in the commando
unit and two Humvee vehicles. Villagers said the soldiers were dressed in
Lebanese Army uniforms.

The success of the effort was a matter of dispute.
One Israeli special operations officer was killed and two commandos were
wounded, one seriously, but an Israeli Army spokesman in Jerusalem said the “objectives had been
attained in full.”

Villagers said otherwise. “They failed completely,”
said Sadiq Hamdi, 36, a scrap-iron dealer. “They were still on the road when
the Hezbollah came upon them. They did not take 1 percent of what they were
trying to do.”

The Israeli Army said it would
continue such raids until “proper monitoring bodies are established on the
Lebanese borders,” another task for the United Nations forces in Lebanon. On
Friday, a top Israeli commander warned that Israel would halt any resupply
efforts and vowed to kill the Hezbollah leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. [Page 6.]    (NY Times
8/20/2006-)

5.    Eroding trust of Israel in Lebanon, the commandos were reportedly disguised as Lebanese troops, in
green fatigues rather than traditional Israeli brown, and identified themselves
as such by speaking Arabic.

Suleiman Chamas, 38, the mayor of this village
about 10 miles west of Baalbek,
gave the following account.

The disguised commandos landed in the eastern
foothills of the Mount Lebanon range, loaded into Humvees and drove east on a
road called Ayoun Semman, where they encountered a roadblock guarded by local
Hezbollah fighters.

The commandos shouted in Arabic, “Peace be with
you, we’re one of yours,” and tried to pass the roadblock without stopping. The
guerrillas started shooting and chased them. The commandos turned onto a dirt
road, and a gun battle broke out, drawing more villagers.

“The whole village came down, both those who could
shoot and those who cannot,” Mayor Chamas said.

Fighter jets and helicopters fired rockets and,
within about 40 minutes, evacuated the commandos, he said. Left behind were two
fresh craters in the rich red Bekaa Valley soil, signs of
casualties — large bloodstains, syringes and surgical masks — and what the villagers
said was some kind of device to guide the helicopters. Villagers reported no
casualties on the Lebanese side.

Yahya Ali, 30, wearing a red shirt and carrying an
AK-47 assault rifle, was one of a number of villagers who said the Israeli
commandos had been dressed like Lebanese soldiers.

He said they had been wearing the mostly green
woodland camouflage uniforms that are standard issue for the Lebanese Army,
along with olive-green flak jackets and green helmets, also standard issue.
Israeli soldiers wear a solid brownish uniform with brown body armor and
helmets.

Mr. Ali said he could see the uniform clearly
because in the rescue the helicopters and Humvees had bright lights turned on.  ( NY Times
8/20/2006)

6.  The official Israeli government
explanation for the raid appears to many observers as transparently false, as is reflected in press coverage of the event.

Israeli Foreign Ministry official Mark Regev said:
“There was an attempt to bring in weaponry from Syria
to Lebanon.
The resolution calls for there to be Lebanese soldiers and international force
there on the border crossings to prevent this from happening. Unfortunately,
they’re not there at the moment. In the interim period, we can’t have a
situation where Hezbollah is smuggling weapons and is rearming and
regrouping.”

But Israel produced no evidence of
intercepted weapons. And the depth of the Israeli raid — 60 miles inside
Lebanon — led to widespread speculation that the commandos might have been on
a mission to rescue two kidnapped Israeli soldiers from Hezbollah’s hands. The
kidnapping in early July sparked the fighting. (LA
Times/San Jose Mercury News 8/19/2006)

The lack of a plausible
explanation created an opportunity for speculation on the motives of the Israeli government in the raid, for example as
reported in this New York Times piece:

The boldness of the raid during the truce suggested
the Israelis might have had some major objective in mind, perhaps the rescue of
their two captured comrades or the capture of a major Hezbollah figure. Boudai
is the home village of Sheik Muhammad Yazbeck,
a senior Hezbollah leader and member of the group’s Shura Council. The Israeli
Army later said it had not captured him and denied his capture was the
objective, The Associated Press reported.

The village was the scene of a funeral Friday for a
Hezbollah guerrilla, Mahmoud Ahmed Asef, who had died fighting in Bint Jbail.
Such funerals sometimes draw leaders.  (NY
Times 8/20/2006)

Winning the peace is our most fundamental challenge

If we hope for peace in Israel,
if we hope for peace in Lebanon
and Palestine, and Jordan and Iran and Syria and  Iraq and indeed
around the world (Sudan and Darfur, the Congo, Burma), we must ask our leaders to commit themselves to win the
peace.

Peace cannot, I firmly believe, be won among people whose societies are not
functioning.  If we want peace, we must
invest in the social capital, the civil society, the middle class economies of the
regions that are now the home of extremist organizations.

Extremist organizations are evolutionary social species that are adapted,
like weeds, to troubled conditions. 
Extremist organizations thrive by providing a modicum of hope to those
who are otherwise terrified of the prospects facing themselves and their
families.  Jean Paul Satre analyzed
terrorist organizations many decades ago, seeking to understand how the Nazis
were able to recruit collaborators in wartime France.  His conclusion was that people are willing to
submit to authoritarian leaders when they feel that their prospects outside the
cell are even more terrifying than those within.  The way to increase the attractiveness of
terrorist, fundamentalist, ultra-nationalist cults is to sew fear and chaos in
the societies in which they are lodged.

The way to reduce the power of terrorist cults is to dissolve them in
stable, functioning societies.

                    ————————————–

Both the Bush administration, wrestling with conditions in Iraq, and the Olmert administration, addressing the situation in Lebanon, have put great stake in the moral justification for their approaches.  But these moral justifications, right or wrong, may be irrelevant to the challenge of winning the peace.

Moral justification is not a substitute for wisdom, compassion, pragmatism and competence.

I am reminded of the story of the captain of a powerful naval ship who, seeing the light of another boat in the fog, commanded that the other vessel give way. 

Back across the radio came the reply, “We can’t, you must give way.” 

The captain spoke forcefully into his microphone “I am the captain of a United States Navy vessel, I command you to give way!” 

Again the reply, quieter this time, suggesting that the captain’s ship give way, and recommending a heading that he steer toward. 

The captain, by now enraged, shouted into the radio “This ship is a fully-armed destroyer, give way or be rammed! What is your vessel?”

The answer came quickly:  “We are a lighthouse.”

I will review in more detail later.  Thanks so much everybody!! Terrific!  See some photos on my flickr page here.

You gotta love the $100 laptop–this is the sort of project that addresses broader access on a real worldwide basis.

Now we need the $1 broadband Internet access.  Should be possible, Wimax, Wifi, etc.

I am anticipating a very interesting session by the librarians tomorrow at Wikimania.  Bela and I have been corresponding with a number of them by way of the OPML community, and a number of them use OPMLworkstation and OPMsearch, our open web-based services.  It will be fascinating to hear them discuss various approaches to knowledge and knowledte access.  Several of them work in wiki and OPML, and the crossover between these two worlds is high on my mind.

Wiki’s and OPML have each have evolved in distinct communities, and with distinct founding visions, and have gained special strengths:

Wiki strengths include the following (I may well have missed some important one’s, if so, let me know):

Wiki’s are held together by hypertext links, and thrive on free-form
linking..This enables a rich range of connections and references.

Wiki’s have undo/revert functions, and versioning, built into every
page.  In discussions with Dan Bricklin and others I have come to see
this feature as fundamental to maintaining quality control in a
distributed community. “Rolling back” the code is an important practice
in software development, and it is also important in knowledge-base
development.

Wiki’s have been promoted as an application rather than a technical
standard and an application, and this may have increased adoption of
wikis by simplifying the “pitch” to new members. Basically, folks only
need to get that they can write stuff on the web, with others.

Wikipedia and other lead uses, such as Intel’s corporate wiki, have
demonstrated the enormous value of peer production to create valuable
repositories of content.  This in turn has inspired others to focus on
community knowledge, and it has also helped others–by the existence
proof–think big in terms of how high and broad a vision one may be
able to realize.

The wiki world has been brilliant in focusing on bringing the content of the wider world into the online world–encyclopedia, how to, employee knowledge, political campaign field intelligence, and so forth.

OPML strengths (again, I may miss some, so let me know..)

The OPML systems are simpler to use, because essentially each OPML page is just that, a page.  Links among pages happen naturally as one creates outlines and manipulates them.

OPML, like RSS before it, is structured to be organized, indexed and searched.  Thanks Dave.

OPML pages can easily link to HTML, RSS, or OPML files, and one can traverse outlines to their end points, hoping more or less seamlessly from file to file across multiple outlines.

Ethan Zuckerman reports on an important discussion in his session:

It strikes me that we need “bridge wikis” as well as search engines that deal effectively with wiki content. The inherent outline-based data structure of OPML might help.

Let me make the following invitation to anyone at wikimania (and anyone who reads this blog post):  Check out one of the OPML “peer production” systems and let me know what you think about the relationship–or potential relationship–of wikis and OPML. 

OPMLworkstation is a free.  It is an open authoring and hosting
environment that allows for pages to be created and accessed and edited
just as in a wiki environment.   BTW it also allows for secure, password-protected mini-sites, as well as for password-protected editable/wiki sites.

OPMLworkstation is integrated with OPMLsearch, so that any
material produced in the environment is rapidly index and searchable.

Oh yea, and we also provide instant conversion of PowerPoint files to OPML, if you want to map something out on your desktop, and then move it online for sharing and perhaps wiki-style open editing.

Check this link out for a quick OPML directory of Wikimania on Google News, Technorati, Feedster, and MSN.

While there, click “Edit This File/Join Wiki” on the menu, and feel free to play with the editor and see what does and does not work for you in terms of wiki-like functionality combined with OPML.  We look forward to your feedback!

Thanks much!  I look forward to seeing some of you in the session in a few hours (I got carried away writing this–it is 4:14 AM now..ugh.)

Good night!

You are participating in the biggest, baddest realtime wiki on earth.  Here now!

Consider the concentric circles of partipation:

{wiki idea}wikipedia idea}wikipedia community}wikipedia inspiration} new forms of wiki-based communities such as wikimentary and wikihow}wikimania event}wikifolk plus lots of bloggers and others including mass circulation web, tv, print as indexed Google news}thousands of readers of blogs, plus millions of viewers of mainstream media, plus hundreds of thousands newly turned onto all of the above…and then you have folks like Ethan Zuckerman focused on bringing the revolution to the entire world population…

All this equals a massively extended global network of participation in the production of information, insight, perspective, and inspiration…

now add the more or less realtime summarization and indexing of this, by way of individuals like librarians Merideth and MediaLibrarian, and machines like Technorati with search/wikimania, and you have perhaps the world’s largest peer production system..in realtime, today..Oh yea, and you have to appreciate the delicious (pun intended) recursive irony in wiki pioneer Ross Mayfield reporting that as CNN interviewed and trashed Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia traffic blew by CNN.com’s. As documented by Alexa!

John Palfrey and I were talking last night about Wikimania, and how it has vastly exceeded expectations in terms of participation, and how by attracting a melange of people with access to their own media–bloggers, etc..is reaching out to the world in an amazing way…

I said, “John, Wikimania has become its own vast, short-term explosively active multi-million participant Wiki!”