[POLITICS] Re: When is the Last Time You Booted to Windows?

[Bruno Wolff III]

On Tue, Feb 21, 2006 at 08:47:22 -0600,
  Mike McCarty <mike.mccarty at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> 
> No, it does not. Something which is placed into the public domain is
> public. It does not allow anyone to take ownership of it. The wheel
> is, for example, public domain. It cannot be patented. Likewise,
> something which is public domain cannot be copyright, nor can it be
> trade secret. It can be sold, but it cannot be owned.

You haven't been following the shenannigans going on at the UN close
enough. There have already been proposals to let people do this.
The "Broadcaster's Treaty" being pushed in WIPO is going to fix
broadcasters of public domain materials exclusive rights to distribute
those materials.
One reference to get you started is:
http://mail.freeculture.org/pipermail/discuss_freeculture.org/2006-February/001715.html