A day of listening to experts from the Brazilian software industry left me with an impression of an industry that is full of creativity, determination and ambition, and if it breaks out of its artificial restraints it will quickly become a dominant software exporter. This doesn't seem to be hyperbole - both data and powerful anecdotes were presented here supporting that. There also is great resentment that the country has been passed by developing nations like China and India, which are gaining market share that Brazilians feel they should have. I kept picturing Brazil as a tiger chained - I don’t know what would be the appropriate animal metaphor for Brazil (a parrot isn’t very intimidating and a python could slither out of any chain). Perhaps a tiger came to mind because it’s so often associated with China and India.

This self-image of Brazilians both in government and industry is a significant contrast from what is presented by some in the Free Culture Movement in the US.

Academics from the Movement go to Brazil, participate in drum-banging rallies, and paint a picture of a struggling country incapable of catching up in a conventional global software market. The answer for a "developing" nation such as Brazil, we're told, is to forget about IP protection (all that does is help outsiders, we're told) and embrace "free" software.

I would argue that this Free Culture Movement argument is phenomenally patronizing. The people I've met here in Sao Paulo want economic growth. They want an opportunity to compete with the US, China and India, not to mention Europe (one executive discussed how her company's software, which powers supermarket registers, has significant penetration in Portugal and is growing in Spain). They don't want to give up and embrace an open source movement that at best will only generate jobs for companies (most likely US-based) to maintain such software, but will not provide any opportunity for Brazilian exports.

This is a large country with a history of innovation and economic success. The individuals I've met here don’t need a West Coast law school professor telling them what is in their best interest. They simply want to compete. That restraining chain I mentioned before, they say, is locally created, and they're working with open-minded government officials to break those links. But they are confident they can do this themselves, and don't want an abandonment of IP protection.

posted by Patrick Ross @ 11:53 AM | Digital Americas, Free Culture Movement, Software

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment | Post a Comment(0)