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.

Big Blue took the Luddite world by surprise when it announced that it was pledging a valuable chunk of its patent portfolio to the free-software movement: anybody with a ponytail and the blessing of the open-source movement can use the patented material for free; everyone else has to keep on paying for it.