Open AccessIntellectual Property in the Context of e‐Science
Author(s) -
Burk Dan L.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of computer‐mediated communication
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.15
H-Index - 119
ISSN - 1083-6101
DOI - 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00340.x
Subject(s) - intellectual property , context (archaeology) , open science , knowledge management , variety (cybernetics) , e science , order (exchange) , computer science , engineering ethics , property (philosophy) , data science , sociology , business , epistemology , engineering , paleontology , philosophy , physics , geometry , mathematics , finance , astronomy , artificial intelligence , biology , grid , operating system
E‐science promises to allow globally‐distributed collaboration and access to scientific research via computer networks, but e‐science development is already encountering difficulty over the intellectual property rights associated with data and networked collaborative activity. The proprietary nature of intellectual property is generally problematic in the practice of science, but such difficulties are likely to be exacerbated in the context of e‐science collaboration where the development and use of intellectual resources will likely be distributed among many researchers in a variety of physical locations, often spanning national boundaries. While a potential solution to such problems may reside in the mechanism of “open source” licenses, the organizational structure of scientific research may not map cleanly onto the open source model. Consequently, a firm understanding of not only the technical structure but of the social and communicative structure of e‐science will be necessary in order to adapt licensing solutions to the practice of e‐science.