On Wed, 10 Mar 2004, Horst Herb wrote:
...
> 1.) "Intellectual property"  is a dehumanizing construct

Horst,
  Dehumanizing or not, "intellectual property" happens to be an important
artifact for much of the "Westernized" societies.

...
> There is no evolution of knowledge if knowledge is not shared

ok.

> - and "intellectual property" is the anathema of sharing knowledge.

This part I do not agree with. People share knowledge in the form of
"intellectual property" all the time. Every time we read a book or watch a
movie, for example.

> Can you imagine where we would be today if Isaac Newton would not have
> openly published his ideas, but locked them away as "intellectual
> property"?

No no no, a way to maximize the "sharing" of intellectual property is to
find a publisher who is willing to put up the paper and ink to print lots
of copies of essays that describe Isaac Newton's ideas.

...
> It is a non-monetary economy of that kind which obviously suits
> "increase of knowledge wealth" best,

This is true sometimes. I think it is also a mistake to entirely dismiss
the usefulness of intellectual property.

Best regards,

Andrew
---
Andrew P. Ho, M.D.
OIO: Open Infrastructure for Outcomes
www.TxOutcome.Org

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