Tag Archives: FOIA

The New Enclosure (Part II)

The notion that the things we create belong to us is not new; it dates back at least to 560, when Ireland’s King Diarrmait ruled against the monk Colmcille, who had secretly copied his mentor Finnian’s psalter.  (Legend records Diarmait’s judgment as “To every cow belongs her calf, therefore to every book belongs its copy.”) […]

The New Enclosure (Part III)

  Discussions of patent policy in the United States and elsewhere often overlook the fact that the original intent of issuing patents (not to be confused with sovereign-granted commercial privileges) was to encourage the disclosure and spread of novel devices to stimulate manufacturing and trade.  The earliest patents (such as those awarded by the Republic […]

‘Climategate’ Redux

When hackers in 2009 obtained data and e-mails from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, they did more than light the tinder box of ‘global warming’ skepticism. The disclosed material also exposed a dismissive attitude shared by many scientists toward the public’s right to know the full results of research funded by public funds, an especially worrisome attitude when that research may influence important national and international policy decisions.