Eyes on the prize Prizes are another way of rewarding research and development without creating monopolies. SpaceShipOne, pictured here, won the $10 million Ansari X Prize for being the first privately developed manned rocket capable of reaching space and returning in a short time. Netflix, the DVD distribution firm, offered and paid a $1 million prize for improvements to its movie recommendation system. The Department of Defense has sponsored prizes for driverless vehicles and Congress established the L-Prize for advances in lightbulb technology.

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