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I'm sure that you're all aware of this. But you know that one of the key
points on the agenda for the next World Trade Organisation is the small
matter of Intellectual Property Rights/Ownership. As you will be aware this
is a key issue in all of the cultural industries (let's include education
for the sake of argument). The whole economic possibility of there being
individual ownership (and the economic monopoly rights, way of earning a
living under capitalism) is under question. Not surprisingly large
organisations are claiming a change in the position such that all of the
thoughts and actions that a person has when in another's employ reverts to
the employer (or something like this).
Both the aspects of the political economy and the SSK angles would repay
some serious academic endeavour. But, as I say some people are already
making a start.


	Dr Andy C Pratt
	Department of Geography and Environment
	London School of Economics and Political Science 
	Houghton Street
	London WC2A 2AE
	Tel: +44 (0)171 955 7588
	Fax: +44 (0)171 955 7412
	Email: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> 
	     
	**details of our new MSc Cities, Space and Society programme 
	and MSc Human Geography Research (with 2 ESRC studentships) 
	are on our web pages: please tell your students !!!
	 http://www.lse.ac.uk/graduate/geography/taught.shtml
<http://www.lse.ac.uk/graduate/geography/taught.shtml> 
and http://www.lse.ac.uk/depts/geography/msc_cities.htm
<http://www.lse.ac.uk/depts/geography/msc_cities.htm> 

	-----Original Message-----
	From:	mel [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
	Sent:	25 November 1998 10:54
	To:	[log in to unmask]
	Subject:	Re: Copyright of email messages

	Interesting to see all these responses about possession of ideas. I 
	believe there are people working on this, see the 'STS' list
(Science 
	Studies). When I originally remarked on copyright, this was just
what 
	I had in mind. What I really think is that increasing Fordization
etc 
	of academe will in the long run prove very destructive especially
now 
	in the time when one person can grasp so little of the enormous
flood 
	of information and skills that can be put to use. Just when we most 
	need co-operation, we are forced into a war of all against all. 
	Of course individuals mostly have to toe the line to get the next 
	contract, which re-inforces it and so on (Is this 'emergence'?)

	> I've got a few fairly original ideas of my own you know.  I'm
working on
	> them right now.  But I'm not posting them here.  They are MY
ideas, MINE do
	> you hear me!  I'm not sharing them in this email, copy righted or
not.  No,
	> you can't have them for months yet, by which time I will have
signed all
	> rights and chance of profit over to some  esteemed academic
journal, thus
	> hopefully helping me meet the internally imposed RAE type criteria
that
	> stand between me and continued employment.  You want to talk
	> commodification of knowledge?  It's been made very clear to me
that these
	> ideas I'm having are all I have to sell/exchange in order to put
food on
	> the table of my young family.  And you know the funny thing -
guess what
	> these ideas I am so possessive of are about. . . Participatory
Rural
	> Appraisal.  Yes you got it, a field/action method that is all
about the
	> free sharing of ideas. . . Is there something bazaar about the
	> Fordification of academic life, or is it just me ?
	> 
	> Yours (cynically? Ironically?)
	> Mike
	> 
	> 
	> 


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