Nice Martha from Redmond Gets into Trouble

Martha Nalebuff seems like a nice woman. So why did the woman next to me in
the audience boo her, pelt her with paper, interject gasps of disbelief as
Martha spoke? Because Martha was here at iCommons to explain Microsoft's
decision to add a down-loadable module to Office that lets users easily insert
a Creative Commons license into their spreadsheets, presentations and texts.

Sounds innocent enough, no? Was Martha booed because there are crowds in which
Microsoft can just do no right, or is there substance behind the knee-jerk?
Gilberto Gil, 60's Bahia icon turned Culture Minister of Brazil, even
published the first document using the technology today.

Martha gave three reasons why BillG liked the concept: it gives the Office
user more choice (in determining the rights under which content is published);
it builds bridges; and it raises awareness of licensing issues.

At the end of her speech, I congratulated a tense-looking Martha on her
bravery, and asked her about the three reasons: ``you didn't mention," I
proposed, ``that Software and content go together like beer and peanuts. They
are great complements. So more "open" content is great news for improving the
software experience of users."

Martha, still stressed but feeling a little less aggressed, agreed: ``There are
a whole lot of good reasons for this that I didn't mention. Yes, that is one
of them. But I've been on planes for 3 days and have had no sleep."

``I am mystified thought that your slide mentioned three rather anodyne
reasons for support in Redmond, and not this one. Don't you think that Bill
might have quite quickly seen that better, widely available, Office formatted
content means a bigger market for MS software. Isn't that the reason for
getting cosy with CC?"

Martha let the crowd peel her away from me to her next podium. Good luck
Martha. My advice: own up to the commercial attractions of maintaining the
ecology of content, or credibility will continue to be stretched.