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Should all information be freely available to everyone?

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LaserSteve:
I work in Academia. I have access to vast amounts of interesting publications most can't afford. Depending on which of my colleagues you speak to, 30 to 60% percent of
academic papers in science are irreproducable.

 I'm hitting about 50% in biomedical and organic chemistry myself.

You sure you want to dump that on the world?

Steve

Rick Law:
How about "good for public to know" information collected for profit?

At least a few reporters lost their life while collecting information that is good for public to know.  They were doing their job, taking a risk to collect information, but that roll of the dice sadly didn't work out for them that time.  I can still recall the images I saw on TV, an ABC news reporter named Bill Stewart was reporting in Nicaragua during a revolution in 1979.  He was executed while lying face down.  His camera man was secretly filming (from inside the car) when they were stopped at the road block, expecting no danger.  The reporter was ordered to get down on the ground, but mere moments later, he was shot in the back of the head.  The camera man in this case survived, turned in the video to ABC.  That was Bill Stewart's last report on ABC new.

I know from the news that many crime reporters in Mexico lost their lives.  Some were just months ago.  In their case, they were mostly taking the known huge risk to inform the public and not for profit.  Therefore, while I am more sympathetic to their situation, the information collected by them is not part of the free/not-free discussion.  They deserved a "shout out" for their courage and their contribution to the information world.

Lesser than life is profit.  How about educational videos/information developed explicitly for profit?  If profit is zero, reason dictates that none of those would exist.

For profit or otherwise, running a server is NOT free.  Someone has to make some money along the pipeline to support the infrastructure to collect and to deliver the information.

Therefore, reason dictates that not all information should be free.  It is up to the developer of the information to decide how much that information is worth.  Datasheet for an IC and specs for a machine as examples: it is worth more to the manufacturer to give that away so users can evaluate and may be buy their products.

Let the free market decide.  If the developer of the information feel that their hard work and risk is done as philanthropy, so it is.  If they want to make a buck, they should be able to do so.

thm_w:

--- Quote from: LaserSteve on November 28, 2023, 04:58:54 pm ---I work in Academia. I have access to vast amounts of interesting publications most can't afford. Depending on which of my colleagues you speak to, 30 to 60% percent of
academic papers in science are irreproducable.

I'm hitting about 50% in biomedical and organic chemistry myself.

You sure you want to dump that on the world?

Steve

--- End quote ---

Not many people are interested in reading publications. But a good percentage of them can be found for free on sci-hub.


--- Quote from: Psi on November 28, 2023, 11:11:12 am ---I also wonder if maybe patents should not be ownable by companies, only by individuals.
I'm not sure how that sort of a system would actually work, but it's interesting to think about.

--- End quote ---

What are you thinking the benefit would be though?
If I produce a patent while working and being paid at a company, who would own it?

lezginka_kabardinka:
YES.

Now if you’d kindly email me your PayPal login, I’ll pay myself 😆

jonovid:
The problem is that all information to be freely available isn't good for all of us.
your log in ID or other personal information.   the US ICBM launch codes for an example.  :scared:

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