It is unique, that is, the university persecuting one of its students, one of its most brilliant students I must say, to the point where they would put him in jail on behalf of a company, which is what they've done. Yeah, I agree that there's something strange and aberrational here, but, in fact, what it reveals is something generic about what universities are doing now in relation to intellectual property. Universities have become ruthless in pursuing intellectual property, says Minsky. That's the issue here. Corporate-sponsored research on university campuses has doubled since 1988, precisely because companies are guaranteed protection, exclusive access, and rights to new technologies or medical breakthroughs.
Universities have a very serious problem.
They risk a brain drain if their academics are not suitably remunerated for their creative inventions, and they're starving for basic research. If it turns out to have a commercial application, everybody's going to make money on it. We should get our share because we helped to develop that, and with that money we can fund the department, we can fund the inventors, we can fund those places in the university that need basic research and continue our mission. Everyone does agree though that the U.S. government, or some federal agency, should be doing more to protect people like Peter Taborsky. I'm seeking justice and seeking the truth.