Intellectual property (IP) is defined by Wikipedia as "a bundle of exclusive rights over creations of the mind, both artistic and commercial."
There has been a new trend developing when it comes to IP as it relates to web design and development. Over the last few years there have been more and more open source material available to the general public. (Ex: PHP, MySQL, CMS) The intention behind this movement is to benefit the community and advance technology by having everyone chip in. This would allow for new talent to enter the field and contribute who otherwise might not have. I feel that this is a great way for technology to advance. The immediate question that pops into one's mind is "well, if these folks work for free how do they make money?" After all, we do live in a capitalistic society.
It's no surprise that Open Source products are popular. As a result, individuals and companies are taking advantage and are getting creative when it comes to profiting from open source products. Many ask for donations in order to grow their product and maintain it's no-cost availability. Others, such as hallmark.com, put out free products (e-cards) and gradually move to charging low costs for them as their popularity grows. (Sort of like a drug dealer.)
Bottom line is, when a product is open to the public for improvement everybody wins.
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