According to the countdown counter at the bottom-left of this page, it has been 35 days since Starbucks and the government of Ethiopia announced their agreement “in principle” and promised to sign the licensing agreement by the end of May, 2007. Though neither side is willing to discuss the details of their negotiations, the lawyers representing the parties have been working on the licensing agreement for sometime now. The public is left to suspense as the parties continue to come close to a moving deadline. With a prolonged resolution date the public’s curiosity to learn about the details of the licensing agreement is growing. I have attempted to get first hand information from second level parties, Light Years IP and Oxfam, but they have not responded to my repeated enquiries. Once again, there are signs that lead me to believe that the parties are gearing up to announce the outcome of their negotiation as early as this week. If that happens, expect a flood of breaking news articles ...