good question at the washington monthly found via slashdot and langreiter.com, respectively: "can a band of biologists who share data freely out-innovate the corporate researchers who hoard it?"

actually, i think that these "open something" movements certainly will get to a point of crisis (no rocket science involved to estimate this, just an intuitive deduction of history). a crisis in a way that some assumptions and expectations will turn out to be totally wrong (just think about making money, for example).

hey, that's ok, that's just the way it goes all the time.

thus, many people (oh, these poor, ingrate people!) suddenly will be turned off by the idea and as soon as the eternal old-timers scent their chance to pop-out again, point their dirty little fingers on the innovators and second-guess that they always knew it, the rats will follow the ugly tune of their flutes down the trampled path back to the cathedral.

probably just at this point it is even more necessary to propagate and live the ideas of the bazaar's open-ness, to strengthen its success by embracing constructive critics and their improving suggestions.

evolve further, my fryend.

that's probably exactly the point of doc searls' infracstructure theory. i just don't think it's that easy down-to-earth at all.

a good friend who is researching chemist in the academic field just puts it right: the fact that researchers are hoarding their results and knowledge for their own benefit is due to the circumstance that this is the only way they can make career and thus some (more) money.

that's the (allowedly, sad and tragic) reality, that is the current infrastructure in this field you have to live and cope with when working collegiate. and not only here, btw.

does not mean that these circumstances won't (have to) change, ever.

yes, i do believe it, but i also need some highly convincing arguments of how good old aunt anarchy or at least some progressive rudiment of open-ness could be established in such a consolidated environment (note: it's much older and much more traditional than the internet or the computer, film or music industries).