This is kind of like the google story. We are currently doing an project individually. The idea I came up with can be used as a website that can make profit. My question is, let's say I was able to make money with the code I am writing, since this is a university project that I will submit for marks, do they own a piece of that profit. I know that the Google guys had to pay about $300 million to Standford but it seemed to me like the "patent issue". And they dropped out so I really can't say much about their case. The facebook story is different.
So am I obligated to share the profit with the university or does this differ from institution to institution? After all, even if they take my code, since I wrote it, I can rewrite it with ease.
Edit: It's kind of like inventing something that can be sold or used as a service. Does the institution own a piece of it.