McCain's technology advisers are unfortunately detrimental

McCain's technology adviser is Carly Fiorina. Remember her? She is the one who was instrumental in driving the price of Lucent stock from $80 to $0.80. Then she went on to really screw up HP - and send much of the technology development for that once great company offshore. Like any good follower of Phil Graham, she dismissed objections by saying "There is no job that is America's god-given right anymore." So when McCain says "I have to tell you that the innovation and the technology and the entrepreneurship of the world still lies in the United States." someone ought to remind him that his own key economic adviser played a pivotal role in making him wrong.

Deutchland uber professors

Rummaging through the back issues of (8 November 2002!) Science magazine (www.sciencemag.org) I see a nice article on new patent rules for German professors. A new law was enacted in Germany in February 2002. University professors no longer will have exclusive IP rights to their inventions, with the universities gaining more control of the rights to such inventions. In return, professors (or university scientists) will receive 30% of all revenues generated through the exploitation of the invention. Nothing new. Germany, just like any other socialist government, wants total control of intellectual property.