[p2p-research] PATENTS not an obstacle to open hardware (sam rose)

[Michel Bauwens]

Sam,

I'm publishing the below on May 6,

Michel

Samuel Rose <samuel.rose at gmail.com> Mar 20 10:16AM -0400 ^

> I had an interesting conversation with Franz in Vienna, who sees patents
as
> a crucial issue hampering the spread of peer production models in the
> physical economy,making it impossible for small businesses to join.

This statement is so broad, that it is difficult to think of an
accurate response.

In my opinion, it is not patents, but rather the world-view and
perception of the requirement of patents for protection and
capitalization/royalty recovery that is the problem. It is true that
patents can be a problem where lawyers companies are funding the
patent filing and enforcement of every possible idea that can be
thought of. This is one reason why I release code ASAP.

In my opinion, the biggest obstacle for small businesses to join
physical economies of peer production is *not* patents. Instead, it is
a lack of basic literacies of how to operate sustainably in physical
economies of peer production.

Most of the concepts people have of "business" are framed in examining
and developing their businesses as entities apart from the natural and
human systems the business is a part of. Most of the models people
know are centered around earning revenue. Knowledge is not widespread
related to sharing, co-creating and sustaining commons, cooperation,
open license, collaboration, etc. Many people do not understand how
"business" works wherein you may be balancing selling some things, and
giving some things away for free, sharing and trading, etc all from
the same production activity.

Even among emerging projects that are released under an open license,
it is not common to see the projects managed in a way that makes it
accessible for other designers/builders to contribute effectively
(although this is changing. It takes more effort to implement this in
physical production projects. Tangible Bit and SKDB will help with
this.)

Plus, in the case of businesses, I know from first-hand experience
that it is tough for many businesses to adopt open source technology
for general production that does not meet safety and basic regulation
requirements. In open+pario community, we are offering to collaborate
on research in helping physical projects meet these requirements
http://openpario.mime.oregonstate.edu/projects/standards-research




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