4 ms·

But open source code is all about "no patent restrictions" and free licensing even with retained copyright (or even outright copyright assignment/dumb CLAs). I

• zanny 11y ago
  The issue is that with copyright and patent law the way it is written software is heavily biased towards proprietary development for profit, by restricting what the user can do with the software they run. It is also an issue of users not caring that they are being given the equivalent of a car with a sealed engine compartment. The average consumer can understand why that is bad, even if they themselves would never open up the engine, because it would mean they could not let their local mechanic fix their car, they would have to submit to the manufacturer at whatever price they want to charge because there is no competition anymore. They just don't correlate that to proprietary software at all, which is understandable because most people cannot internalize concepts related to information transfer, scarcity, transformation, or preservation. They exist in the real world and more easily relate to the physical and ignore the implications of ignorance in all that is not presented to them in that medium. That still remains a political problem, one with your system of economics. I guess since YC is funding that UBI research it may also be relevant to research alternatives to US IP law that can optimize for productivity and social utility of the results, because we are obviously not close to a maxima right now.