Most of this week's WorldWatch news in some way concerned "intellectual property". This phrase is in quotes because we consider the term to be a fabrication and misuse of the English language. Because a lot of the discussion on this term comes from the US, we used a quote from Bill Gates, as well as several more from Thomas Jefferson for an editorial on the subject. We hope this article provokes some thoughts and discussion about whether granting monopoly privileges helps or hinders human progress.

We also covered the continued insider stock and options transactions at SCO, and we linked to some further articles from the world press on the same topic. This article also links to some other interesting Linux happenings, including the new Knoppix for Mac as well as IBM's recent Linux-related announcements.

As the debate on file sharing continues to heat up and RIAA subpoenas are flooding the US legal system, we also published two opposing opinions on file sharing.

Perhaps the most significant article is a brief look at China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan. In this part of the world, Linux use is growing like wildfire, and a carefully-planned program that includes hardware, software, support and education is underway to turn all the interest into a reality. It's easy to see why John maddog Hall would like to learn Mandarin Chinese, as he mentioned in our interview with him last week.

We apologize in advance for any sporadic coverage during the next few weeks, as we are moving our office within Costa Rica. Our connection will be downgrading from a relatively fast homebrew 15 Km wireless link to a modem connection on old analog phone lines. We hope to set up a repeater in the near future, but Internet connections are tough in the Costa Rican jungle.

Willy Smith is Editor in Chief on WorldWatch.