Buy the Numbers: Publishers Seek Special Database Monopoly Protections
By Robin Gross - A new open-access online medical journal database teaches African doctors with no research budgets about new medicines and surgical techniques. Scientists are able to study the "greenhouse effect" because weather data is made freely available to the public over the Internet. Electronic databases have proliferated in recent years, creating new information products and services for the public. The availability of information databases fuels innovation by lowering the costs of research and development and spreading knowledge to new sectors. ...