Why does it not surprise me that a Microsoft executive says that Open Source undermines intellectual property? Might it have something to do with the fact that Microsoft makes its billions by selling software, as opposed to giving it away?
I'm sad to see that they are suggesting that this will undermine IP, which is a *voluntary* system. Intellectual property is protected, as no one can prevent a programmer from learning from the code creation process and applying that experience elsewhere. While the rewards may not be immediately financial, they are certain worth the effort, as thousands of open sourcing programmers will likely attest.
The problem of evolving systems is a difficult one, especially where the unanticipated consequences may have disasterous results. One solution that I've heard mentioned is that we might engineer exotic environments to contain the microbes (or algae, whatever).
If the bugs require the exotic environment to survive, then if they are released either accidentally or deliberately, then they would die. In this case, that might mean finding slime that dies at lower temperatures, enclosing the smokestack, and maintaining the 130 degree temperatures that the algae needs to thrive. If they escape, they die.
This does not necessarily resolve the problems related to mutation of the original strain; but if the mutation required is significant, then perhaps it will delay the issues sufficiently that our clean-up capabilities improve enough to handle a relatively specific danger.
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I'm sad to see that they are suggesting that this will undermine IP, which is a *voluntary* system. Intellectual property is protected, as no one can prevent a programmer from learning from the code creation process and applying that experience elsewhere. While the rewards may not be immediately financial, they are certain worth the effort, as thousands of open sourcing programmers will likely attest.
If the bugs require the exotic environment to survive, then if they are released either accidentally or deliberately, then they would die. In this case, that might mean finding slime that dies at lower temperatures, enclosing the smokestack, and maintaining the 130 degree temperatures that the algae needs to thrive. If they escape, they die.
This does not necessarily resolve the problems related to mutation of the original strain; but if the mutation required is significant, then perhaps it will delay the issues sufficiently that our clean-up capabilities improve enough to handle a relatively specific danger.