More interesting than Brand's futurism are the observations he makes
about the funding behind the Lab. (Brand hit the major points, but these
figures are from 1995 instead of from his 1987 book.) The Lab's annual
budget is $25 million, mostly from 95 corporate sponsors, half of which
are overseas. While the Lab claims that sponsors cannot dictate the research,
it's also true that grad students have to sign a nondisclosure agreement
before receiving aid, and sponsors often fund research that is proprietary.
Given this history, it's not surprising that since the Internet arrived, the
Lab has been chasing the dot-com rainbow. But one has to ask: What about the
public sector? Where's the vision? Does anyone at the Media Lab care?
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