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Information Feudalism: Who Owns the Knowledge Economy?

Author: Peter Drahos and John Braithwaite

Publisher: Earthscan

Publication date: 6 February 2002

Reviewer: Sandy Thomas

EN

"Drahos and Braithwaite argue that developments [in the global intellectual property regime] over the past 30 years are driving us dangerously towards a system that they refer to as information feudalism… Those who stay the course [of the book] will gain a clear insight into why so many non-governmental organisations are furiously lobbying for the removal of TRIPS and for reform of the patent and copyright systems… [But] crucially, evidence of why the patent system has, on balance, almost certainly benefited consumers hardly gets a mention. As a consequence, many of the arguments advanced in the book are seriously flawed… Neither do the authors get to grips with some of the most important questions in development policy that loom large today."

Link to full review in Nature

Price: £35 (hardback), £12 (paperback)

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