I'd suggest the source of the software used by CIA to synthesize 100% authentic sounding speech from voice samples :]
Okay, I've got a suggestion which is somewhat "out of the box". I was thinking about purchasing patents to medications, that could then be used to treat those that can't afford them. First things that spring to mind are AIDS, Malaria or TBC medications, that are currently completely inaffordable for many people world wide. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be easy to convince pharmaceutical companies to sell even one patent, but if they were explained that they 1) would get a positive publicity that's very hard to buy otherwise, 2) get money from the sell and 3) still can sell the generics, so they're not completely losing money, it might be possible. I know, it's technically not free knowledge in the way we are referring to it on the different wikiprojects, but I think this could nontheless be a worthy cause.
Thanks for listening,
Lennert B
On 10/27/06, "Lennert Böhm" Lennert.Boehm@gmx.de wrote:
Okay, I've got a suggestion which is somewhat "out of the box". I was thinking about purchasing patents to medications, that could then be used to treat >those that can't afford them.
There are other costs. It is quite difficult to make stuff like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ritonavir.png
First things that spring to mind are AIDS, Malaria or TBC
medications, that are currently >completely inaffordable for many people world wide.
That has little to do with patents. Anti HIV stuff tends to be availible at cost in such areas. All major anti malerials have been around long enough for the patents to expire. I belive the same is true for TB (not that that means much with the number of drug resitant strains we are seeing).
I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be easy to convince pharmaceutical companies to sell even one >patent,
Most of the first generation of anti HIV drugs are comeing to the end of their patent. 100 million would probably be enough to get them to give up a year.
AZT has been patent free for over a year.
but if they were explained that they 1) would get a positive
publicity that's very hard to >buy otherwise,
They can get paid for working on maleria vaccines. How much posertive publicity do they need?
Hi geni, Rest,
obviously we can't start building a lab in St. Petersburg or wherever and make the drugs ourselves. But if the patents were released into Public Domain, prices would drop. Just think of the prices of e.g. Tylenol or Ibuprofen.
Lennert B
On 10/28/06, "Lennert Böhm" Lennert.Boehm@gmx.de wrote:
Hi geni, Rest,
obviously we can't start building a lab in St. Petersburg or wherever and make the drugs >ourselves. But if the patents were released into Public Domain, prices would drop. Just >think of the prices of e.g. Tylenol or Ibuprofen.
Paracetamol is trivial to make and uses readily availible precursors.
Ibuprofen is probably slightly more difficult and has that chiral centre although it appears that almost everyone just uses a racemic mix.
Even say AZT is rather harder to make
Patents on drugs only last 20 years in any case so you would only be speeding the entry to the public domain by a few years. I'm sorry but getting rid of the patents on the anti HIV drugs is not the magic bullet that certian people made it out to be.