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Article: Who owns the knowledge economy?(intellectual property)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- April 8, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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"IF NATURE has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea... No one possesses the less, because every other possess the whole of it. He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me." In Thomas Jefferson's inspiring vision, there are no barriers to the acquisition of knowledge. Nobody owns it, everybody partakes of it--and the world becomes richer.
Two centuries later, when knowledge has taken over much of the economy, Jefferson's words seem to take on a new power. After ...