Owning the Future: Staking Claims on the Knowledge Frontier (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Information wants to be free--or so goes the motto of every laptop libertarian from Newt Gingrich on down. But if Seth Shulman's sweeping overview of current trends in the ownership of knowledge is as correct as it is convincing, information has in fact never been less free than it is right now. The more valuable knowledge becomes, the more fiercely corporations and individuals struggle to control it--through patents, trademarks, and other legal tools.

Freedom of information is the most obvious potential casualty of that struggle--but it's far from the only one, argues Shulman. At risk in the current intellectual land rush, he insists, are nothing less than our prosperity, our sense of economic justice, and our democratic principles.

Those are strong claims, but compelling evidence backs them up. Shulman draws some of his most eye-opening examples from the computer industry, in which acts of info-monopolizing run the gamut from the subtleties of the Microsoft case to the absurdities of software patents that have actually granted ownership of particular numbers. But it's the breadth of Shulman's argument--moving briskly across the high-tech landscape from computers to pharmaceuticals to genetic engineering to university research practices--that gives it force. Shulman leaves you with the sense that few aspects of our social and economic future will remain untouched by the new knowledge monopolies and that the time to rethink their place in our world is now. --Julian Dibbell

From Publishers Weekly

Technology journalist Schulman tackles what is arguably the most important?if not the most obvious?economic and cultural development of the century's end: the privatization of information and knowledge. He raises a sobering alarm about what this trend ultimately means for the future of democratic society. There is, he writes, "an uncontrolled stampede to auction off our technological and cultural heritage" through the expansion of patents, copyrights and trademarks. Asserting that the legal concept of ownership is being stretched to cover intangible concepts that have always been shared and have enriched public life, not just private owners, Shulman urges thoughtful government intervention: reduce the scope of legally recognized intellectual property; simplify the adjudication of claims; and adjust the civil penalties for inadvertent or borderline infringement. He also argues for using zoning, sanctuary and antitrust laws to protect the public. Dozens of cases in diverse fields enliven the book as Shulman never lets his argument overwhelm the characters. He introduces eccentrics and idealists, geniuses and clever fakers, individuals being harassed by huge corporations and huge corporations being harassed by individuals. As Shulman tells readers exciting stories of innovation and the battles that flow from it, we learn quite a bit about science, law and politics. There will be those who find Shulman's warnings alarmist, but there's no doubt that he has clearly outlined what he calls "the vexing problems that emerge when knowledge is treated exclusively as a commodity."
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (February 19, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395841755
• ISBN-13: 978-0395841754
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,679,871 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book does not require a law or business degree to enjoy, May 29, 2001

By	Max Lent "Consumer" (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What makes this book pleasurable to read is that Shulman is an excellent writer. He makes great arguments and backs them up with solid case studies and examples. What's more is that he accurate in his observations.

This book is a must read for anyone interested in intellectual property and patents. The current bizarre world of patents and intellectual property is on the verge of blowing up just like the dot com fiasco. Shulman explains why the patent system as it now exists cannot continue indefinitely. The patenting of body processes, ideas, and business practices is absurd to even the casual reader. Shulman's examples will amaze you.

Who will not like this book are those people bent on patenting everything from colors to the properties of indigenous peoples. They will see this book as exposing the fact that the emperor is naked and if they are in the business, they won't like what they read. There is no question that a new invention, like a new computer chip, should be patented, but Shulman explains how far the patenting system has strayed away from the way it should work. This book will not tell you how to file a patent. It will not even give you a very good overview of the patent process. It is not for inventers. What it will do is make you shake you head in disbelief at the sorry state of the patent system and develop an instant dislike of some of the industries abusing the system.

What amazed me after reading Shulman's book is that there is no Ralph Nader kind of activist speaking out about the patent industry. The atrocities and deaths resulting from corporate misuse of the patent system fare exceed the scope and depth of Nader's attack of the auto industry. There exists a leadership vacuum in patent activism. Perhaps Shulman's book will awaken the leader we need to protect us from corporate misuse of patents and the broken patent system.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction to IP situation, July 5, 2001

By	Dave Carroll (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Notice that the only poor review of this book comes from an IP lawyer. Considering Shulman's analysis, which often remarks that the biggest winners of current IP laws are the lawyers who pursue infringement cases, it is no surprise. I was impressed with _Owning the Future_ because it successfully covered a wide terrain of significant topics in IP with a brisk, economical journalistic style, so I can share this book with any number of people. While I disagree with the somewhat moderate approach Schulman takes toward intellectual property rights and patent law--I am much more in line with Richard Stallman's reasoning--I found this book very informative. For the low price it is being offered for on Amazon, it's definitely worth it.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars readable and farsighted, March 28, 2000

By A Customer

Shulman brings this material to life. This is no academic tome. If you read one book about intellectual property this year--this one should be it!

With fights over the human genome intensifying and increasing numbers of press reports about legal battles over patents, this clear-headed book puts the complicated issues of the emerging knowledge economy in an accessible and thought-provoking context.

Shulman uses the overriding public-interest concerns involved to pull the disparate material together in a compelling and readable fashion. I was surprised and angered by the stories he recounts from the frontlines of the intellectual property frontier.I also found the book hard to put down.