Thank you Dr. Molly. What you wrote is very helpful and answers my concerns about intellectual property protections afforded to Malaysian incorporation. But, I'm still not convinced I know enough to say it's a great idea to start there. You're right - I need to spend some time there, and will eventually.
And BTW, I'm not just talking, I'm trying to figure out how much it's going to take me to actually execute the incorporation here in the U.S. when you all are ready. see below ... Dr Molly Cheah wrote: (snip) > > But why start of with a US incorporation? Past discussions clearly > indicate that the membership "do not" want a US dominated OSHCA. I don't view the situation as "US dominated" or not. We'll have to get a US incorporation at some point to have a US presence. Your big economic impact and market is in the U.S. As a Malaysian company you have to play in the U.S. as a foreign interest. As a domestic U.S. corporation it's much easier. I can help you more if you start here. I can't help you as much if you start elsewhere. I know there's a lot of bad sentiment toward American companies right now in some circles, but you know what? It doesn't matter. I believe those fears will dissipate as long as we stay focused on OSCHA's mission. We're getting software distributed here, not playing politics. > I don't agree that US incorporation offers more legal protection than > Malaysia which are also signatories to International Conventions and > legal frameworks and taking them seriously. Under the law OSHCA will be > a legal entity with rights to all provisions under the relevent acts. > Incidently Malaysia is not a new regime and we got our independence from > the British in 1957. Before that we were colonized by the Portugese, > then the Dutch and then the British. > Stabilized by US based parent? How so? The U.S. economy is much more stable. Investments into open souce here already rivals that of any foreign government's investment into open source. There's simply more money to be had here to support OSCHA's progams. And there's more prescedent in the U.S. for protecting the individual's (not government sponsored) open source properties. Here's how else a US based parent offers stability: if OSCHA's intellectual properties (the open source software) technically originates from the U.S. it will be much more difficult for foreign entities to challenge that ownership. I'm not worried about *Malaysia*. I'm worried about China, North Korea, and a few other countries. I want to see OSCHA stand firm internationally. An organization's/individual's ability to protect open source is unquestionably great in the U.S. Linus Torvalds owns Linux under US copyright, which has allowed him to protect it and keep it open sourced. OSCHA's ability to enforce ownership of software and license it under open souce licensing dramatically affects my ability to contribute to the intellectual property itself. > > I plan to apply for tax-exempt status, in addition to the non-profit > status which will automatically be given. That means that donors to > OSHCA do not pay taxation on their donations to OSHCA and OSHCA does not > have to pay tax on the donations received. There is no control on the > repatriation of monies earned in Malaysia. nice. This is key! > I didn't know that Malaysia is politically unstable and I don't know of > any assets that had been suddenly owned by someone else. But I'm amazed > by your perceptions of Malaysia. I would be happy to play host and > invite you to come and see Malaysia. I'm not saying there's a problem, per-say, today. I happen to be a big fan of Malaysia. It has a lot of promise. I would agree Malaysia is relatively stable, perhaps even more than Mexico - certainly more stable than Argentina. Not more stable than the U.S. And it's easier to operate without guanxi "connections" in the U.S. because of that difference. > I've not mentioned about Govt funding. I did say that it would be easier > to get funding for OSHCA activities from the likes of organisations like > UNDP, IDRC, CIDA, SIDA etc. Maybe I failed to "market" or "hard sell" > Malaysia for our purpose. As for incentive programmes and other Govt > offers, it is obvious that you are not aware of the Malaysian Govt's > Policy on Open Source, incentives related to ICT companies and projects. Well, you're correct about my lack of awareness there. It's hard to find that kind of information. http://opensource.mampu.gov.my/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=38 But, there's a careful balance to be aware of here. Is the government driving Malaysia's open source development or the Malaysian market? More government funding means more quanxi required to play in the open source market. Whose interests are represented there? Keeping OSCHA development a part of free market dynamics is pretty important too. I see a lot of "open source vendors" and the Malaysian government is apparently willing to provide some type of services. But that's all I know. > There are too many to enumerate here. I did a google search on > Malaysia's incentives for ICT and they're all there. However, after all > these efforts I wonder if the members of OSHCA are capable to make a > difference to push the open source agenda in health care especially in > the developing world. I must quality that this is my main interest - the > developing world that needs help. Depending on what the Malaysian Open Source Competency Center is ready to do, I may be on a plane soon! I'd be delighted to help out such a program. Again, the key here is to what degree the Malaysian government is using open source to stimulate free trade. But again, my ability to help out with anything OSCHA depends on a) how difficult it is to operate with/without political ties, b) how effective OSCHA can be at protecting its open source. > > Molly > > >>Richard >> >> >> >> >>Molly Cheah wrote: >> >> >> >>>I was born in Malaysia and lived through the period where we obtained >>>independance from the British and from whom our legal framework was >>>adopted. Just wondering what are the concerns of Richard and David on >>>the legal protection for OSHCA. Can you elaborate rather than make a >>>comment that imply there isn't legal protection. Incidently we don't >>>have the equivalence of Guantanano Bay in Malaysia. >>>Molly >>>Joseph Dal Molin wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>>Legal protection in the context of an organization like OSHCA is IMHO >>>>not a major concern. What is more important is how the countries laws >>>>influence governance. >>>> >>>>David Forslund wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>>I don't understand why this is good or even relevant. What should >>>>>matter is the legal protection >>>>>provided by the incorporation in the various countries participating, >>>>>which I think was Richard's point. >>>>> >>>>>Dave Forslund >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>>Yahoo! Groups Links >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>>Yahoo! Groups Links >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> >> >>Yahoo! Groups Links >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/openhealth/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
