It is argued that we are living in an new era where the digital environment for the first time allows the creation of an information commons. The information and knowledge can be distributed to the largest number of people at nearly zero cost. However, access to and use of information has become increasingly difficult. This is mainly due to the international trend to commodify information products and services and the accompanied strengthening of intellectual property rights. This leads to the exclusion of people from accessing essential information, thereby denying them a fundamental human right-the right of accessing to information. In this puper shows that the economic argument on justifying intellectual property has become more important than the moral and social factors. This has brought an imbalance in the dual nature of intellectual property systems, favouring the ownership/exclusion argument. It is demonstrated how this shift has impacted on the original creators of information, indigenous peoples and developing counties.