A group of open-source-, free-software- and commons-wonks have sent an open letter to the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, asking that WIPO investigate intellectual property regimes that foster open, collaborative projects.
In recent years there has been an explosion of open and collaborative
projects to create public goods. These projects are extremely important,
and they raise profound questions regarding appropriate intellectual
property policies. They also provide evidence that one can achieve a high
level of innovation in some areas of the modern economy without intellectual
property protection, and indeed excessive, unbalanced, or poorly designed
intellectual property protections may be counter-productive. We ask that
the World Intellectual Property Organization convene a meeting in calendar
year 2004 to examine these new open collaborative development models, and to
discuss their relevance for public policy. (See Appendix following
signatures for examples of open collaborative projects to create public
goods).
(Thanks, Seth!)
