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(Sorry if you get more than one copy of this message, but I felt
that it was urgent to get this important info out.)
The values of freedom and openness are crucial to understanding
itself, so that civilization and public welfare now depend on
them, as I argue below. These values may find their best
expression in the free and open source software (FOSS) movement,
and the foresightful example of FOSS developers should now be
beneficially applied to many other disciplines in the context of a
global and public Internet.
It is crucial that we occasionally take time to discuss the
reasons _why_ we release our source code, and this is one of
those occasions. There are good reasons for the freedom and
openness which are characteristics of FOSS development, reasons
which should receive wider attention now that they can be readily
communicated to other arenas. The consequences of doing otherwise
are often catastrophic.
For example, it incomprehensible that Genentech could consider
withdrawing a cheap cure for blindness (ARMD) from the market.
http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/random-bits/2006-june/001374.html
The mechanism of this drug is public knowledge.
http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_id=14183567forum_id=6042
This abhorrent situation is a great example of the kind of thing
that will happen if people don't get behind the values of freedom
and openness that we are espousing. Please let Genentech know
that you find what they are doing offensive. Publicize the mechanism
so that new compounds can be obtained as replacements. For the
future, continued vociferous public activism is required to prevent
such outrages from occurring in the future.
It becomes clear that the compounds which come from common roots,
fruits, and vegetables are a shared human heritage and the free and
open source of the future. Tannins are another interesting case in
point, because as molecules, and as anti-oxidents, they are similar to
resveratrol (resV), and that molecular mechanism has been anchored to
the public domain via a prior art declaration. It is a so-called
CR-memetic, which may increase healthy human longevity by many
decades. Here are some links about it.
Resveratrol mechanism posts from GNU-Darwin list
http://proclus.gnu-darwin.org/gdposts.html
CR protocol for human bodies
http://proclus.gnu-darwin.org/bootstrap.html
Here is some important recent news about it.
http://www.imminst.org/forum/index.php?s=act=printclient=printerf=237t=10749
It is exciting to suppose that people can get off the pharmaceuticals
that they are taking with calorie restriction or CR-memetics. I
personally am trying to get off the cholesterol drug Pravachol, a
statin compound, starting a few of weeks ago. Write me, and I'll let
you know how it turns out. From the article...
Fontana says ... evidence of younger hearts in people on calorie
restriction, suggest that humans on CR have the same adaptive
responses as did animals whose rates of aging were slowed by CR.
I think that it is time to look at the tannins in tobacco leaves.
There may be other treasures lurking there too. As you may be
aware there is ample public research into any possible beneficial
compounds that may be obtained from tobacco leaves. The mechanisms
are there waiting to be discovered. If you want to post them, just
reply to me and I'd be delighted to host them.
The public establishment of prior art is a time-honed method of
entering inventions into the public domain. We now have other
methods at our disposal as well. If you are planning to establish
prior art against future CR-memetic related patents, you might want
to have a look at www.creativecommons.org. Perhaps it goes without
saying at this point that you should please choose a license that
provides for free and broad public access to your memetic.
In that way you will assure that the public health is served by
anchoring them to the public common, where they cannot be exploited
by those who would withhold them for their own profit. The DRM
situation is precisely analogous to this. Can you imagine doing
science in a world where your ability to read and write your data is
filtered through secret protocols that are hidden from you? I
recommend the Defective By Design campaign to fight the outrage of
DRM, which is incompatible with the scientific pursuit.
http://www.defectivebydesign.org/
It is clear that scientific tools must be demonstrably and
penetratingly understood, or else our claims will likely be skewed
and called into question. Free and open source software is
a great example of how to make your science verifiable to the
public. Establishing prior art against future patents is
another good one, which is precisely analogous in method,
making the result explicit to the public, free and open to all.
Thank goodness for the free and open software movement, which
gave us such a great example of how to serve
