Computist Larry Bookman is a founder of iCompass, which has announced a Personal Data Exchange service. This allows consumers to sell aggregated data about their online purchasing behavior to interested merchants, while maintaining control over their privacy. [, 21Dec00.]

If you release your code under the GPL "copyleft" license, it can't be used in non-GPL programs. The Gnat-modified GPL (GMGPL or GMG) doesn't have this restriction. [Ted Dennison , comp.lang.scheme, 27Dec00.]

The Patent & License Exchange (pl-x.com), is collaborating with Softbank Finance and Itochu to set up pl-x Japan (pl-x K.K.) for Japanese intellectual property valuation, patent validity insurance, transaction assurance services, and a global marketplace for patents. The TRRU Metrics Valuation and Asset Pricing systems can suggest a fair price for commercial licenses or for intellectual property donated to charitable organizations. [Leslie Menendez , 29Nov00.]

Open Ideas is a group developing a database of free ideas such as might otherwise be patented. They are working on the database engine, with classification of ideas according to the IPC patent system at . Such work could be developed into a thesis project. . [, comp.ai, 02Jan01.]

----- "Embedded in the American culture is a deep reverence for innovation and entrepreneurship. Our traditional icons are the Yankee inventor, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur, the cowboy, the astronaut, the Arctic explorer. ... Of late, this current has become muddied. Our new heroes are the sports star, the entertainer, the stock trader, and the pop star-symbols of getting rich quick rather than of creating value." -- Michael Hammer. [NewsScan, 21Dec00.] -----