Seanad debates
Wednesday, 12 February 2003
Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Second Stage.
The two points I wish to make are, first, on the method of communication and, second, on the register itself, and making sure that it is available. One of my heroes is Tim Berner-Lee, who invented the worldwide web and decided that he did not want an income from it. He did not go out to seek an income. He has not been recognised as a hero, despite the benefits with which he has provided the world. Another young man in his early 20s, a Norwegian called Linus, invented the alternative to Bill Gates's Microsoft. Bill Gates resolved to make a load of money and became the richest man in the world, and more power to him, but Linus decided that he wanted to give his system to the world. It is almost the equivalent of William Caxton, back in the 1400s, deciding that he would patent his system and get money from everybody who ever printed anything in the future.
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