MacArthur has announced two grants totaling $850,000 made through its special funding initiative on intellectual property and the long-term protection of the public domain.

MacArthur's initiative on Intellectual Property and the Long-Term Protection of the Public Domain focuses upon questions of intellectual property rights in the digital era, specifically those that seek to balance the legitimate needs of the creators of intellectual property and the public. Through this limited initiative the Foundation also supports work designed to protect, over the long term, the public domain of information and ideas.

A grant of $600,000 over three years to the American Association for the Advancement of Science will be used to examine and monitor domestic and global developments in intellectual property policies and their potential effect upon scientific research and innovation. With this grant, the AAAS will also help promote access to the public domain of scientific information and to the benefits of science, as well as encourage broader participation in the public debate about intellectual property policies affecting science in the U.S.

A grant of $250,000 over 18 months to the National Research Council at the National Academies will be used to support efforts to promote open access and the public domain in scientific and technical data internationally. With this grant, the U.S. National Committee for the Committee on Data for Science and Technology, which operates under the auspices of the National Research Council, will work with other international agencies to organize an international workshop for public and private sector science policy experts and managers in developed and developing countries. The workshop will focus on international approaches and policies for preserving ready access to science and technology data and information. It will be held prior to a United Nations-sponsored World Summit on the Information Society in 2003, where an international vision for the information Society will be framed and transnational policies concerning access to information and technology will be developed.