As it stands now, English seems to have become this default language for people engaged in the physical sciences, international business, and now the Internet. More important are the technical languages that make up the syntax of the computer languages we use to write software and the protocols we use to communicate over the Internet. The fact that we have open standards, which are 'owned' by no one, makes it possible for this information ecosystem to exist. One cannot communicate without them. For example, there are tendencies due to economic forces to try and capitalize, segment and own portions of what has evolved from the knowledge base.
Patents are one institutionalized form.
The robber barons of the turn of the century are another. Control and ownership of large-scale industries, which in turn, for profit motive, misuse the environmental ecosystem, is in existence today. Many times in history there has been the tendency to hoard knowledge or destroy the knowledge base for the gain of a select few who are in power. Restricting access to the knowledge base either by economic means or through some kind of social standing has been practiced. I am sure that there are countless examples, but two in our recent history come to mind.