“On the one hand, molecular biologists, gene sequencers and
other researchers are coming under increasing pressure to think of
patent rights before publication. Even pure mathematicians must
consider keeping their equations secret as soon as any conceivable
application is in sight….”
“And on the other, we see that software developers, who
normally work in a brutally competitive world, are increasingly
turning to “open source” software, where hundreds of independent
developers openly cooperate to read, redistribute and modify free
programs so that they evolve at a speed beyond anything possible
inside a single, closed company. Linux, the most famous
open-system product, is now expected to gain more users over the
next three years than all other operating systems combined.”
“What is going on? The answer is that we have been rushed into
the knowledge economy where riches are determined by the ability to
create, control and exploit information while using muddled
intellectual property rules.”