I finished my presentation, which seemed to go well. Currently presenting is Yann Joly of McGill University. His focus is the intrinsic benefits of open source methods in biotechnology. Most of the fears about a biotechnology anticommons are unfounded. They story of Mertonian norms of science, an open scientific community, that has been hijacked by IP rights, is simplistic and false. [DWO Note — this is exactly right.] Meanwhile, the story of open source hasn’t been fully told. Is open source really a norm of communism? [DWO Note — this is an excellent point; open source needs to be positioned not as a socialistic or communistic norm, but as a community norm that complements free markets.] There are a number of possible cooperative strategies in biotechnology: patent pools, patent clearinghouses, defensive publishing, broad license terms, open source licensing. Recent empirical studies do not support the “tragedy of the anticommons” in biotechnology (see list in extended entry).
Known intrinsic benefits of open source methods include the following:
- Peer evaluation
- Rapid validation of findings
- Stimulate intellectual curiosity
- Maximize rational development
- Facilitate sharing of technical information
- Spread risk
- Reduce costs of production
- Attract volunteer (altruistic) labor
- Reduce transaction costs of license negotiation
- Facilitate technology transfer to developing countries
[DWO Note — this last point about technology transfer to developing countries is a key one concerning biotechnology]
Empirical studies of the tragedy of the anticommons:
Nicol and Nielson (2003)
Walsh, Cohn, Arora (2003)
Straus, Holzapfel, Lindenmeir (2004)
Walsh, Cho, Cohen (2005)
Nagaoka, Kunitachi (2006)
Hansen, et al. (2006)