On 15 Jul 2002, Gilad Ben-Yossef wrote: > > Oh wait... they did start their research. They did give it for free not > just to third world countries but to the entire world. They did manage > to stop almost completly a disease that is just as horrible and just as > terrible as AIDS and the only reason you don't fear it today as you fear > AIDS is because these guys research and efforts. Oh, did I mention that > one of them (I think it was Salk) even tested the vaccine on himself to > make sure it's safe?
Salk developed the vaccine for polio while working for a university. He worked for a salary. The project was a joint project of several universities, and obviously had funding. As for giving away the vaccine, while I have no doubt that Salk would have gladly done so, it was never his to give away. I am not belittling his achievment in any way - I admire the man and his work - I'm just pointing out factual inaccuracies in the example given. btw - in his last years he also took part in AIDS research > > Or to put it in other words: > > "Who can afford to do professional work for nothing? What hobbyist can > put 3-man years into programming, finding all bugs, documenting his > product and distribute for free?" > > -- Bill Gates, Open Letter to Hobbyists, 1976 > > "We do." > > Richard Stallman, Linus Torvalds, Paul Vixie, Alan Cox, > The Apache group, the SAMBA team, RH software, etc... > > In other words: > > Don't want to do the work without getting the right to keep other people > from using it? Well and good, then don't. Just don't complain. The > simple truth is that what these guys are complaining about is NOT that > they can't make a living doing these things in a freedom respecting > fashion, they are complaining that they can't get rich doing it like so. > How very unfortunate for them. > > > > > > Also, these so called free market and "I want to make a profit from > > > what 'I' invent" did not take their knowledge from thin air, but > > > studied at a university or a college. > > > > And paid for that. And went to Glaxo to apply the skills they got - > > for hire. And it was 'they' who invented things, and not others, in > > part because they had invested in their education. And incidentally, > > the IP rights belong to their employers, who paid their salaries, who > > paid for the hi-tech equipment (the people who produced it also > > deserve getting paid, after all), who paid the rent, etc. Yes, there > > were quite a few financial transactions along the way to development, > > and yes, our society places a higher tag on the highly skilled labor > > involved in producing AIDS cocktails than on the low-skilled labor of > > growing maize in Africa or laying bricks in Russia. There is nothing > > inherently wrong or unjust about it. > > No problem. But the right for a limited monopoly of the fruit of your > though (be it copyright or patent) is *NOT* a natrual right like your > right to other real property like your house. It's a limited monopol > granted by the state to advance the state of science and society. But if > it doesn't do what it's there for, it should be gone. Or much better - > returned to it's original form of a *limited time* (something like 7 > years) granted to the original inventor. That is the *PERSON* who > invented it, a corporation couldn't have copyrights or ptents then. > > Gilad. > > > > > Now, let me remind ya'all that this grew really OT. ;-) > > > > -- > > Oleg Goldshmidt | [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > "IBM is a pretty big company." [W. Gates] > > > > ================================================================= > > To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with > > the word "unsubscribe" in the message body, e.g., run the command > > echo unsubscribe | mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > -- Thanks, Uri http://translation.israel.net ================================================================= To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word "unsubscribe" in the message body, e.g., run the command echo unsubscribe | mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
