the value of a piece of intellectual property has been defined by how few people possess it. In the future the value will be defined by how many people possess it.While it's difficult to know just what Mr. Grossman meant by this, or what he might say if asked what his point was, I think that the reversal from the few to the many depends on a bit of sleight of hand, for he seems to switch from one meaning of "value" to another.
Intellectual property is a legal concept. The legally protected owners of certain artistic or commercial creations of the mind enjoy the benefits of the exclusive use of those creations (or of fees for licensing their use to others). The value of the few, in this context, refers to the size of the benefit (especially monetary) enjoyed by the legally protected owners.
The value of the many, on the other hand, seems to refer to the practical benefit of an intellectual property to all of those who are able to apply it. The more who are enjoying such practical benefit, the greater the value of the property in that sense.
But the two values go hand in hand. The legally protected owners can't enjoy much monetary benefit from their properties if there aren't many people who can benefit from the properties practically. That has been true in the past, and it will continue to be true in the future.
In this case at least, Mr. Grossman's skill at prognostication seems to have been eclipsed by his skill at obfuscation. I can't speak for any of his other writings, but he may be a better novelist than a journalist.
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