IP: When Secrecy Stops Science AAAS Meeting at MIT

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/18740.html

When Secrecy Stops Science
by Chris Oakes 

3:00 a.m. 29.Mar.99.PST

If you've invented a perpetual motion machine, you really should tell people about it. After all, your little finding overturns the fundamental laws of physics. 

Disclosing the details will polish your reputation, and might even advance your research. More than that, it satisfies society's fundamental need for openness in science. 

"You've got to explain how you did it and let them try and duplicate what you've done," said Steven Aftergood, project director for the Federation of American Scientists. "Openness permits us to discover errors and it also enables the cross-fertilization of ideas. It's very much part of science."