DYSLEXINOMICON: Proprietary

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Proprietary

Synonyms: Private, Chattel

Classification: Euphemism, moral rationalization

Definition: Adjective used to describe items over which the exclusive right to use and dispose are legally vested in a self-selected individual or group of individuals.

The principle of private ownership is one of the concepts most central to the ideology of info speak. In its abstract, theoretical sense, it is also one of the least controversial ideas. But from a very narrow construction of that principle flow the flawed but powerful dynamic of patronage and the dubious conflation of wealth with moral virtue.

For at least thirty years it has not been possible to hold a serious discussion about the nature and extent of private ownership as a promoter of the public good. Experiments with various Marx-inspired philosophies in the 20th century have led to a stable consensus that a state's generalized opposition to the private holding of property, even when promoted sincerely and not merely used as a ruse to dupe a gullible populace, always heralds the advent of an incompetent kleptocracy. The strength of this consensus has given the principle of private ownership a kind of priviledged status that effectively short circuits any serious discussions to better define its extent and limits as a promoter of the public good.

Until March 29th, that is, when Justice Sweet of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a ruling denying several patents to Myriad Genetics, Inc. over naturally occurring genes involved in the development of certain types of breast and ovarian cancers.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/national/2010329_patent_opinion.pdf

www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/business/30gene.html?adxnnlx=1270040658-tnJcu7QneXDJxA6Paw6a

http://www.sltrib.com/Business/ci_14780897

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-29/myriad-loses-ruling-over-breast-cancer-gene-patents-update1-.html

http://www.aclu.org/free-speech-technology-and-liberty-womens-rights/association-molecular-pathology-et-al-v-uspto-et-al

http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/03/us-judge-rejects-breast-cancer-g.html

www.physiciansnews.com/2010/03/31/court-says-company-cant-patent-breast-cancer-gene

The Association for Molecular Pathology (a non-profit promoting genetic medicine) initiated the suit as plaintiff to deny these patents and was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation.

The defendant, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, had earlier granted the disputed patents to Myriad Genetics, Inc., a privately owned biotechnology company which had developed several products based on the patents to obtain a practical monopoly over the market for certain types of cancer screening.

The primary judicial grounds for invalidating these patents was their inherent unconstitutionality, holding that under the First Amendment (i.e., "Free Speech") and the Fourteenth Amendment (i.e., guarantee to "Life, Liberty,Pursuit of Happiness"), it is not possible to grant patents over " . . . products of nature, laws of nature and/or natural processes, and abstract ideas or basic human knowledge or thought."

Numerous supporting briefs were submitted by third parties elaborating their consideration of the consequences of granting or denying patents over such naturally occurring genes. Not surprisingly, those filed in support of Myriad's patents tended to emphasize the advantage of exclusive rights over the genes when attracting investment for biotechnology firms. Briefs against the patents asserted that the monopoly resulting from such patents actually stifles innovation by making competitors' research too expensive and places the cost of life-saving treatments out of reach of many women, effectively denying them their basic human rights.

Groups submitting briefs included the American Medical Association and March of Dimes in opposition to the patents and the Boston Patent Law Association in support.

Though there will almost certainly be a lengthy series of further appeals, it nonetheless marks a turning point in the debate of private property in this country. The Myriad case is the most serious challenge to private ownership over the genetic code of living organisms since the controversial 1980 case Diamond v Chakrabarty.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=4478&invol=303

The subject of Diamond v Chakrabarty, however, was the genetic code of a bacterium which had been significantly altered by the party claiming the patent, whereas Myriad seeks to hold exclusive rights over an unaltered human gene.

As referenced within the court's opinion, a Dr. Fiona Murray has estimated that to date approximately 20% of the genome in every human being--you and me--is currently held under exclusive patent. And I'm fairly certain that none of those patents are held in my name.

So while the final disposition of this controversy may be far off, many important ideas have received a new lease on life; and the idea that private ownership is an absolute moral good, that it always and necessarily guarantees economic progress now seems to be open for serious debate. Maybe others will be encouraged to articulate more complete notions of the public good or better distinguish between wealth and virtue or even work on some non-sectarian notion of a sacred space, out of the reach of the venal or profane.

Etymology: French proriétaire < Latin proprietarius

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Submission and editorial policy of the Dyslexinomicon

The core of entries to the Dyslexinomicon have been gathered during my many years of field observation.

Due to the need to make each entry as broadly applicable to a general audience as possible, most entries represent the distillation of the observations of numerous, unrelated individuals. Given the sometimes sensitive nature of the communications involved, efforts have been made to strip all entries of information which may specifically identify individuals. No reference to specific individuals, living or dead, should therefore be inferred.

Although I am more than pleased to receive and acknowledge feedback and submissions from interested blog readers and colleagues, and efforts will be made to accomodate reasonable differences of opinion within the scope of this project, all final editorial decisions will be made by myself, without right of appeal.

Subject to the policy articulated above, submissions and feedback may be directed to me at: dyslexinomicon@gmail.com.

Why is the Dyslexinomicon needed?

It is needed because, for many people, the fragmented and often prima facie incoherent rhetoric of the information age leaves them feeling confused, distressed, and ironically, uninformed. They may feel that they have no reliable way in which to evaluate the flood of information information inundating them daily.

Over many years of study and professional practice I have observed an increasing number of such cases. These individuals tend to be quite representative of their communities and are often "high acheivers"--with above average I.Q.'s and good educations and are usually well-employed. I believe they are at the normative centre of a sick dynamic, rather than at the aberrant edge of a healthy one.

Pragmatically, there is little that these people can do. Pending favorable developments in the wider culture which are largely out of their control, the best that they are likely to acheive is a "cognitive bridge", some systematized way for themselves, as individuals with a healthy desire for cognitive coherence, to interpret the strange and fragmented "info speak" that prevails in the society around them. My hope is to develop the Dyslexinomicon into such a bridge.

"Info speak" is a broad term describing the style of discourse currently prevalent in our culture, commerce, and politics. I could have chosen any number of terms for this style of discourse, but I feel "info speak" is particularly appropos since the apparent redundancy not only clearly evokes its ironic inscrutibility, but also obliquely references the primary industry of our era, the economic engine driving its cognitive framework -- information management.

"Info speak" is characterized by a pithiness which is intended to convey an attractive sense of vigorous vitality and drive activity. Expressed in terms that may be disturbingly vague when viewed with an objectively critical eye, it can, however, for its intended audience, acheive a spectacular rapport and persuasive power.

The fragmentary, incomplete nature of "info speak" is in a way its unholy strength. The speaker appeals to his audience's vanity by offering them an opportunity to fill in the missing blanks from a more-or-less commonly understood store of cultural norms. Pride reinforced by having selected the "right" answers, the audience often attains an impressively high level of identification with the speaker. Each entry for the Dyslexinomicon will entertain a specific example of this dynamic as practical illustration.

But that strength is unholy, a profound debility short-circuiting productive discussion. While the underlying store of cultural norms to which "info speak" appeals may be more-or-less commonly understood, it is not reasonably complete with regard to the common sense ways in which its audience experiences the world. Many are morally reprehensible. Indeed, this feature of "info speak" seems calculated to provoke its audience to self-defeating behaviours.

But a caution. Any person publicly objecting to the narrow confines of "info speak" in search of greater coherence should beware that he or she is likely opening him or herself up to charges of naivete, stupidity or immorality. Objections are usually not viewed as sincere or legitimate, but rather as threats to the established harmony among the community and its patrons.

And that seems to be the lynch-pin in the array of cultural norms to which "info speak" appeals: an authoritarian group dynamic. Here fundamental choices about the conduct of public affairs, structure of behavioural incentives or application of sanctions has been remanded largely to a small self-selected group of wealthy elite whose decisions are not open to question. Possibilities for enhancing the current operation of our economy, polity and society are foregone for what is vaguely hoped to be a benevolent status quo.

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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Proprietary

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Submission and editorial policy of the Dyslexinomicon

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