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<div>Heehe $12,000 for the "best" source code (including moral rights - so you will never get credited if its a big hit) is a complete joke imo. </div><div><br></div><div>I would urge local developers to be cautious about these competitions and approach them strategically. </div><div><br></div><div>For example, you can use these kind of competitions as idea triggers to (lawfully) get clues and inspiration on what problems need solving <span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 16px;">(*without* participating or signing up, as that potentially binds you to their T&Cs) </span></span>- then form teams/coalitions to solve these problems independently for a much bigger potential payoff.</div><div><br></div><div>On policy these things are happening because there are glaring loopholes in our intellectual property laws that allow *IP mining* to take place without any restriction or consequences. Its literally a free for all.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Kenya needs an "Intellectual Property Resources Act", which would invalidate exploitative contracts / terms and conditions is long overdue. This is the kind of 21st Century legislation that can stimulate innovation and the creation of *high quality jobs* in Kenya.</div><div><br></div><div>21st Century resources include: </div><div>1. Attention or engagement (systems designed to distract people from contributing to economic activity) </div><div>2. Data (for mining/analytics or ML)</div><div>3. Source code, novel circuits, algorithms, chemical formulations, mixtures, blue prints (including business plans, pricing models etc).</div><div>4. Valuable ideas (e.g. "please call me") that cannot be protected via any combination of the old industrial era laws e.g. patents, copyright, UM & DM.</div><div>5. other?</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks for the heads up and Good day!</div><div>Patrick.<br></div><div><br></div>
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On Monday, November 12, 2018, 2:01:43 PM GMT+3, Wainaina Mungai via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
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<div><div id="ydpab3a0211yiv7570521381"><div>Some developers are raising concerns privately that great initiatives such as Zindi are "cheaply buying AI code" from Africa <a href="https://zindi.africa/faq/data_scientists" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://zindi.africa/faq/data_scientists</a><div><br></div><div>According to them, "Zindi runs high-value expertise programming competitions/ hackathons in Kenya and Nigeria... and demands code in exchange for low pay prizes. It is unfairly low-cost labour for them."</div><div><br></div><div>See attached. Are their concerns valid?</div><div><br></div><div> </div></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>kictanet mailing list<br><a href="mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke</a><br><a href="https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet</a><br>Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/kictanet" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/kictanet</a><br>Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/</a><br>Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke<br><br>Unsubscribe or change your options at <a href="https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/pmaina2000%40yahoo.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/pmaina2000%40yahoo.com</a><br><br>The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.<br><br>KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.<br></div>
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