Beijing outlaws 'naked computers'Xinhua reports that Beijing is to ban the sale of naked computers, i.e. computers without pre-installed operating systems. Wang Yefei, deputy director of the Beijing Copyright Bureau has announced that the measure will come into force at the end of 2006. The aim is to cut down on copyright-infringing software. PCs are sold without operating systems and end users are said to purchase pirated copies which they then install.
The IPKat says that while this might be great for copyright enforcement, but he can’t see this being great for competition on the operating system market.
Where's the beef?
The Star reports that Japan is considering granting intellectual property protection to the genes of four breeds of cattle. A special panel of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will be convened on Tuesday to consider the issue. One possibility that has been mooted is making it illegal to sell cattle that is the result of a cross between Japanese cattle (known as ‘wagyu’) and other cattle under the name ‘wagyu’.
The IPKat isn’t quite clear what form this proposed IP protection would take (possibly because it’s still early days) but the proposal sounds similar to geographical indication protection based on genetic makeup, rather than geographical origin.