Re: Defending the Mad Scientist

In article <1135013681.475279.82340@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
chornedsnorkack@xxxxxxxxxxxx says...

>How do you go about protecting the Mad Scientist (like in the thread
>"Legal question")?

>So, someone knows of an invention which has obvious huge security
>implication. It is not general knowledge about to be invented by many
>independent researchers.

>Governments generally are threatened. If they find out, they have
>plausible excuse to try and seize the invention and the inventor for
>security reasons. They might alternatively try to offer positive
>inducements to the inventor so as to benefit from the invention. But
>how can the Mad Scientist discourage them from attempting to use force
>- especially if the government had a clean excuse for trying to use
>force rather than incentives?


Well, he could publish everything in the open literature. Or present
the work at an academic conference. Or both, and put it on a web site
for good measure, all of international scope. That way, there would be
no further benefit in using violence against him.

If he wants to get rich from his invention, he'll need a patent, but
he can apply for that concurrent with his open publication. Everyone
knows how to build the gadget, and anyone who makes any money off it
in the next twenty years has to send him a cut.

The (US, at least) government can technically put a secrecy order on
the patent. They can't, legally or practically, do anything about the
open-publication part, and "this gadget which everyone knows how to
build is covered by a secret patent", doesn't do anything except bring
a few more lawyers to the table.


--
*John Schilling * "Anything worth doing, *
*Member:AIAA,NRA,ACLU,SAS,LP * is worth doing for money" *
*Chief Scientist & General Partner * -13th Rule of Acquisition *
*White Elephant Research, LLC * "There is no substitute *
*schillin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx * for success" *
*661-951-9107 or 661-275-6795 * -58th Rule of Acquisition *

.

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