In the early days of the software industry, people cared about copyright and didn't give a damn about patents - they copied each other willy-nilly.
Nathan MyhrvoldPeople get cranky when you burst their bubble. Over time, advances in astronomy have relentlessly reinforced the utter insignificance of Earth on a celestial scale. Fortunately, political and religious leaders stopped barbecuing astronomers for saying so, turning their spits with human-rights activists instead.
Nathan MyhrvoldUltimately, my Ph.D. is in mathematical physics, focusing on quantum field theory and curved space-time, and I worked with Stephen Hawking.
Nathan Myhrvold