This is not to say intellectual property is not a valid concern. Rather, the point is that there are a number of ways to address the issue without undermining the core insight of the MIT initiative. Professors could, for example, be more selective in posting unpublished or original material online. But to simply limit access to information, in the way that Harvard and other schools plan to give access only to alumni, doesn’t settle intellectual property concerns and runs antithetical to the very potential of the Internet.
Bravo, MIT. Let’s hope others soon follow suit.
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Richard S. Lee ’01 is a social studies concentrator in Pforzheimer House. His column appears on alternate Thursdays.