Well, as I was saying, seems to me that for someone who has not themselves
"freely given the world" a comparable or even lesser invention such dicta
are......um, what shall I say?, have a hollow ring. Do you mean there
should be no patents, no copyright, no trade secrets, no proprietary
information? Do doctors give their "knowledge" for free? Or lawyers?
Teachers either, for that matter. Not to mention architects, librarians,
engineers, beekeepers, accountants, actuaries, and vetinarians. In our
culture, when someone has worked to develop a speciality, it is considered
appropriate for them to charge for consultations.
In any event, the statement "knowledge should be free" is rather loose,
about the equivalent of "love should be pure," or "people should be good."
If it has any meaning at all, it would be that it's not nice to suppress
ideas and information. It doesn't mean & was never intended to mean that
you are entitled, without effort or input on your part, to every discovery
people not in your employ have made.
Judy