[Stoves] Fwd: Smoke-free biomass pellet fueled stove

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Ron and Tom and All

I was asked by a permanently employed person as recently as this week to donate the IP for a stove to help the poor. It costs between $20,000 and $1m to develop a novel stove and bring it to the end of the assembly line - to say nothing about getting it into the market. 

Paal, how long, in hours, did you spend perfecting the Peko Pe?  I am always happy and impressed that so many people volunteer their time even if they have no stable income, just to make the world a better place. Sometimes it is to get one's ideas out there and 'helping' sometimes it is part of a larger marketing exercise. 

What I favour (and have done it) is to pay to someone a small fee of my own devising if I use an invention I consider significant and helpful even if the person doesn't ask for it and doesn't need it. 

Think of this as inverting the typical theft of intellectual property: paying something for every helpful idea because it is the right thing to do!  Instead of looking to get something valuable for free and assisting others, how about it being the new normal to thank the inventor even if they didn't want it?  They can divert the income to a worthy cause if they wish. 

The morality of this is evident: the beneficiary is just as obligated to the inventor as the intermediary. It is not true at all that 'poor people' should not be a normal part of a functioning society. Playing it that way is to diminish their full social status and damage their self-image, however subtle the effect. 

We should thank and reward our 'teachers'. Even if it is a meal of appreciation fed to non-needy but capable inventor discharges the intellectual property. 

Regards
Crispin