Oxford, like all research universities, owns and enforces IP. It does have "IP protection" and is an important part of the pharma industry. Oxford, their partn

Oxford, like all research universities, owns and enforces IP. It does have "IP protection" and is an important part of the pharma industry. Oxford, their partners AstraZeneca, as well as Johnson & Johnson (the latter two being pharma companies!) have all committed to distributing at cost — but not at a loss. They want to get paid back. The way they're getting paid back is because they can enforce IP law. If anyone could copy them without paying, as the author is proposing, they would not be able to sustain this kind of research. At cost is very different than not enforcing IP law. IP law is required for "at cost." Otherwise it's distributed at a loss.