Have you ever been on Strike?

[Jimaz]

The most enduring thing I learned from that time and later on in life is,

Unless you own the means of production you will always get the short end of the stick.

There's a curious analog of "owning the means of production" in information science called "Zero Knowledge Proof of Knowledge."

Under the right circumstances one could use it to force one's employer to become one's customer. Essentially, you'd prove that you can easily provide a valuable solution to the employer's recurring problems without revealing any clue about how the technique could be replicated by anyone else. No need for patent protection — the innovator would retain intellectual property rights barring contractual restrictions.

I suppose that's what ransomware hackers do except theirs would be a one-time exploit. ZKPoK would provide an addition continuous revenue steam, not unlike most common business models.

This, after all, is what business does normally. There is nothing shocking here.