Re: [rp-ml] Where are the Universities?

From: Adrian Bowyer <A.Bowyer_at_bath.ac.uk>
Date: Mon Jan 02 2006 - 17:02:16 EET

Quoting Anand Dwarkanath <adwarkanath@yahoo.com>:

> It might be worth pulling out Terry Wohlers article "Obstcales to RP's
> Growth" http://www.wohlersassociates.com/Oct01TCT.htm

For some reason he doesn't mention in that article the single biggest obstacle,
which is over-powerful IP protection laws.

I was at an (entirely unconnected) meeting in Oak Ridge a few weeks ago on the
future of the world's energy research, and I was surprised and pleased to hear
a number of very grown up, very important, very suited people say the same
about energy research: an obsession with IP protection is hamstringing
development. No-one demurred.

Encouraged by this, I made my usual suggestion, which is that governments should
offer tax breaks to companies for not patenting (or rather - they patent, then
tick the box that says "open" or "Creative Commons" o.w.e., and don't pay so
much tax as everyone else when they sell the product). I was rather pleased
that this got into the final set of recommendations. As Jack Marburger
(Science Adviser to the President) was there, who knows?...

Yours

Adrian

http://staff.bath.ac.uk/ensab
http://reprap.org
Received on Mon Jan 02 14:32:39 2006

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