[MURG] Uploading IP (intellectual property)

[Yan King Yin]

From: "Martín O. Baldan" <martinob at arrakis.es> 

>I'm not a neuroscientist and this is a bit off-topic, but I can't resist
>to coment that I'd really like to see *less* intellectual property and
>more openness, in science and elesewhere. I'd like to see more initiatives
>like GNU and PLOS.

As I pointed out before, IP does not prevent disclosure or
publication, it actually facilitates openness.

>As an industrial engineering student, I find it sad that the spirit of
>openness found in science is not present in engineering (except in software
>engineering, to some extent), where patents are currently the only way to
>make big money.

There isn't much reason to feel sad. Federal funding appears
to be free only because it is a hidden cost. Therefore the
'spirit of openness' is actually an illusion.
Commercialization of R&D actually saves people money as it
makes research more efficient, because business is by nature
geared towards higher efficiency. Also, We can organize the
consortium in such a way that both the public and private
sector of R&D will be able to benefit from it.

>I don't think it would be so difficult to finance research without resorting
>to state grants or IP. If many people want a particular piece of research to
>be carried out, they could just group together and raise the funds. This
>process could be interactive and anonymous if desired, working as a
>marketplace of projects, and it could in principle be applied to science,
>engineering and cultural products. Well, I'll stop drifting. My point is
>that, not only scientists but also many other people, appreciate the open
>spirit of science and would miss it if it were compromised by IP.

Can you elaborate on your idea of fund raising? It doesn't
seem very plausible, unless you're talking about charity,
in which case the amount of funding would be very limited.
What we need is an efficient way to get the necessary
research done, and IP facilitates that. There are some
misconceptions about IP that make people fear it like
monopoly and price-setting. In reality there exists a lot
of mechanisms that regulate it. If we get down to forming
the consortium then all these will be explained.

YKY


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