The Financial Times, on why you can get something for nothing, and your IBM patents for free:

Why would a capitalist give something away for free? To make money, of course. IBM, which announced last month that it would give away free access to 500 of its patents, is clearly convinced that charity is the path to profit in the digital age. ...Does that prove Communism is alive and well and living on the internet? Not quite, comrade. "The point is not that we'd be better off without proprietary technology, or without property at all," writes Prof Lessig in his book, The Future of Ideas. "The point, instead, is one that has been obvious since the birth of our republic -- that a balance between proprietary and non-proprietary property is better than either extreme."