Who get's to use the info?

stubstub
edited October 2005 in Folding@Home
What with all the private investment in universities nowadays I have to ask:

If I were to contribute to the folding at home project would the information become the property of some capatalist venture or would it remain the property of researchers/academia?

Perhaps a better question would be when would it become the property of a private concern. Not that I'm some sort of communist, I'm a dyed in the wool believer in freedom, I'm just concerned that pure research is becoming skewed by the profit motive, and while I'm interested in contributing to such a worthy pursuit, I'm sure as hell not going to do it if the University's raison d'etre is being perverted (IMHO) by the profit motive, or if my money and computer is defacto investing in private venture.
(at least not without receiving a dividend, lol, and yes I realize a treatment for my impending ageing etc could be considered a dividend)

Comments

  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited October 2005
    Stanford is using the data that we give them to continue their own research. They have published some papers from the data we have sent back to them. We fuel their research. There are other Distributed Computing programs out there that are run by companies such as UnitedDevices and not universities like Stanford.
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    We, at Short-Media, have had a discussion regarding our SMx Project. The concept of issuing PC's to members to host for research is novel. But, what do we do it (a) Stanford wraps up F@H, what happens to our SMx Project, (b) What if we decide that Stanford is not the best use of our SMx rigs, (c) What if there is another project that we feel drawn to...

    We decided that the SMx project is for research, regardless of the research. We, as a team, decide what to put our resources towards. Right now, we support Stanford and Fold at Home and secondarily support DIMES.

    I'm sure, at some point, the data collected will be used by drug manufacturers to create custom drugs to combat diseases. I doubt that any of our research would result in any profit for us folders. Will Stanford profit from the research... I'm sure if they crack some of the mysteries of Alzheimer's, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, Huntington's, and Parkinson's disease, they will receive funding from the private sector.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    QCH2002 wrote:
    I'm sure if they crack some of the mysteries of Alzheimer's,
    Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, Huntington's, and Parkinson's disease, they will receive funding from the private sector.

    and in my opinion, will have certainly earned it.
  • stubstub
    edited October 2005
    mmonnin wrote:
    There are other Distributed Computing programs out there that are run by companies such as UnitedDevices and not universities like Stanford.
    QCH2002 wrote:
    We decided that the SMx project is for research, regardless of the research.
    primesuspect wrote:
    and in my opinion, will have certainly earned it.

    I knew I'd get answers to my questions here! After having poked around a little I have to say that I'm not surprised...

    As to primesuspect's comment I can only agree, however I'm am only afraid a conflict of interest may arise, with respect to QCH2002's reply (pure research), if they receive funding from those who do eventually profit. The issues are obvious, or to put it more succinctly:

    Indubitably prime, cheers QCH, and thanks for the info mmonnin!
    Now if only I trusted Windoze as much...
    :thumbsup:
Sign In or Register to comment.