🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1991May20.023251.142@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> gsh7w@astsun.astro.Virginia.EDU (Greg Hennessy) writes:
>In article <14833@ulysses.att.com> smb@ulysses.att.com (Steven Bellovin) writes:
>#The fundamental question we have to answer is this:  if software
>#patents are to be disallowed, what alternative mechanism would you
>#propose to encourage people to publish new algorithms?
>
>Those in academia already have incentive. Publishing advances your
>career. 

Not only that, but Steven Bellovin gives RSA as an example, and the names
that appear on the relevant patents are those of college professors,
who, as Greg Hennessy points out, did the research to advance their
careers.  Unfortunately, some leading institutions have changed their
policies in recent years; instead of attempting to spread their discoveries
far and wide, secure in the knowledge that this will enhance their reputations,
attract new talent and lots of research money, instead more and more of
them are attempting to license their discoveries, withholding it from
publication, in an attempt to squeeze the last dollar out of it.

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Joe Buck
jbuck@janus.berkeley.edu	 {uunet,ucbvax}!janus.berkeley.edu!jbuck