posted on Aug, 23 2010 @ 01:58 AM
Forgive me if this topic has been raised and covered previously. Just ignore it and it will go away and quietly die. :-)
I have been wondering about this...
Potentially, universities and/or companies stand to gain an incredible advantage over their competitors if they have access to NASA latest technology
developed for their space programs.
We hear how the products that NASA has developed for space travel have filtered their way into everyday life, but does anyone know just how it is
decided who gets to benefit from this technology?
How can there be any 'fair' way to allocate these technologies because there is no way of knowing what ultimate benefits will be found from their
use.
Plus, of course, since they were developed with public money, I assume that someone or some organisation holds the patents for the technology and it
is the technology that it licenced to more than one company or university.
However, universities and companies which further develop the technology can rightfully(?) say that they have added value to the technology and can
claim some extra proceeds.
Does anyone know how this kind of thing works please?
[edit on 23-8-2010 by qmantoo]