INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN A POSTINDUSTRIAL WORLD

An acceleration of the rare of innovation and associated transformatio n of industrial to postindustrial societies raises fundamental questio ns about the viability of the existing intellectual property regime. A mong these hey questions are who should make future intellectual prope rty rules, what protection should be given to property developed with government funding, how much regulation should be applied to potential monopolies in life-saving technologies, whether all products should r eceive the same types of protection, and whether there is too much emp hasis on pecuniary rewards as motivation for innovation. In an economi cally divided global village, important questions must also be address ed about the applicability of the same set of rules in both industrial and postindustrial settings.