[Patents] gouvernement 'buy up' patents or copyright

[Kristoff Bonne kristoff@mccb.be.eu.org]

Greetings,

>> In the 'old economy', society (usually the national states) has the right
>> to 'buy up' property (land) of individuals if it serves 'the greater good'
>> (e.g. to build a railway track).
>> This is a generally excepted principle.
>> So, why not extend this principle to the 'knowledge economy' and give the
>> gouvernement (at national and/or European level) the right to 'buy out'
>> certain patents or copyrights (at cost-price) to release it to 'the
>> public', if it serves the public good. (e.g. things concerning security
>> -like encryption principle or software-, or where the existence of patents
>> stops further research in a certain domain, ...).

> But, for the sake of good use of public money, it would
> not be proper to first allow private appropriation of a
> public good ("privateering" to paraphrase Richard Stallmann),
> and then buy it again at the cost of public money to
> make it public again.

Look at this this way:
There are two ways scientific and techological research is done:
- Either by the 'public institutions', payed by 'the society'.
- Either by a 'private company', payed via the system of time-limited
monopolies (patents).

Althou it is a bit over-generalisation, one could say that the public
research is more directed towards 'basic, fundamental research', where
privately funded are more aimed at the application of a certain piece of
knowledge.
Also, certain types of knowledge are better suites of one or the other
type of research.


As the governements also can deside to 'spin off' certain pieces of
research towards the private sector, why should it be given the right to
'take back' something when it feels it belongs better in the public
sector.


Anycase, when a museum (payed by a city, province, region or state) use
public money to buy a certain piece of 'artistic knowledge'; isn't
this the same thing?

Cheerio! Kr. Bonne.
---
kristoff.bonne@mccb.be.eu.org             fax: +32 59 333072
multi computer club Brugge/Linux-Unix:    'unix-info@mccb.be.eu.org'