Chapter 7: SKETCH OF COMMUNIST SOCIETY -- CULTURE
6. Science and technology will become common intellectual property.
6.1. Liberation from intellectual property rights
Capitalism has extended the concept of ownership into the realm of intangible knowledge, creating the dogma of intellectual property rights and guaranteeing enormous profits for their holders. As a result, intellectual property—including medicines with universal utility—has been seized by capital, restricting its utilization.
In contrast, in a communist society, the concept of intellectual property rights is abolished, and the fundamental principle is that intellectual property should be owned and shared by all humanity based on the Treaty on Intellectual Shared Assets. However, this does not mean the efforts and honor of the inventors and developers of technology are nullified in the name of sharing.
The names of inventors and developers, along with the names of their technologies, are permanently recorded in a modifiable form on a registry. Furthermore, the methods for utilizing common intellectual property are carefully determined while respecting the intentions of the inventors and developers.
Furthermore, regarding the utilization of such shared intellectual property, inventors and developers will be granted the right to raise objections, and a neutral council will be established to review the appropriateness and legality of usage methods. The abolition of intellectual property rights does not mean that the unrestrained theft or misuse of new technologies will be tolerated.
6.2. Development of environmentally sustainable technology
Under capitalism, science and technology have developed as a way for humans to develop and modify nature to suit the needs of capitalist activity. Therefore, the primary criterion has been the possibility of continuous profit generation, even at the expense of environmental sustainability.
However, in a communist society that incorporates environmental sustainability, all science and technology will be subject to environmental impact assessments. At the same time, environmental technologies aimed at environmental sustainability itself, which have been developed in capitalist societies but are hardly mainstream, will become a key technology in communist societies, and a planned economy that takes environmental sustainability into consideration will also be supported and operated by such technologies.
6.3. Development of technology for the socially disadvantaged
Since a communist society is based on the principles of social cooperation and mutual aid, it is clear that consideration for the socially disadvantaged will be far greater than in a capitalist society, where personal responsibility and self-help are ideologically imposed. For example, this would include support measures for people with disabilities, children, and the elderly.
Moreover, this would not only extend to mindset and social systems, but also to physical support in terms of technology, leading to the development and advancement of technology that can be used universally accessible, regardless of physical disabilities.
6.4. Joint management of ethical boundary technologies
Ethical boundary technologies refer to sensitive scientific and technological advances, such as genetic manipulation and generative artificial intelligence, that have the potential to spark sharp debates regarding bioethics and information ethics. In capitalist societies, these technologies tend to circumvent ethical regulations as long as they are recognized as useful tools for capitalist corporations pursuing profits.
In contrast, in communist societies, even if ethical boundary technologies are recognized as useful, ethical judgments regarding their applicability take priority. Specifically, a neutral Science and Technology Ethics Review Committee would be established under the World Organization for Science Education, the successor to UNESCO, to officially and normatively evaluate the ethicality of science and technology in general.
Such ethical regulations are necessary even under capitalism, where ethical boundary technologies have already developed, but implementing them effectively is difficult. Regulation of ethical boundary technologies will only be effective in a system that abolishes the concept of intellectual property rights and jointly manages science and technology as the common heritage of humanity.
