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Infringe is a more suitable word for IP than steal, since nothing is physically taken. The real question (and the thing which should force self reflection on we

Infringe is a more suitable word for IP than steal, since nothing is physically taken. The real question (and the thing which should force self reflection on western ip laws) is if companies are incentivized to invest in developing new ip without laws to create monopolies for the new tech. Maybe open source software is a similar model (copyright vs patents).

mbreese 8y ago
You could physically steal plans, drawings, or documentation describing inventions or technology. Infringe isn’t necessarily the best term here when the technology in question isn’t necessarily covered by copyright, but likely a mixture of patents or trade secrets. In these areas of, shall we say, ‘loose’ IP enforcement, I don’t think you’ve seen any instances of really transformational increases in technology, but rather incremental improvements. Evolution rather than revolution, if you will. I don’t think you’d see major changes without strong IP law enforcement. While there can be some rapid improvements in existing tech, with lax IP enforcement, how much new tech could you really expect? We’d end up stuck in a local minima.
- chillacy 8y ago
  Steal implies a loss of the physical good: if I steal your car, I get a car and you lose your car. If I steal your money you lose that quantity of cash. If I steal your idea... what have you lost? The opportunity to make money? But it's not like I took your idea and wiped the memory from your brain. So steal I don't think is the right word. As far as technology, software is relatively IP lax and innovative, which lets us mix and remix from a common knowledge pool. Imagine how much slower software development would be if we all had to pay royalties to knuth for using an if statement, royalties for using any encryption, or any algorithm which was, after all, non-obvious before it was invented.
deepnotderp 8y ago
I mean, certain Chinese companies have also been known to literally physically take blueprints and the like.
- chillacy 8y ago
  I didn't get the sense that the parent poster was referring to this specific case, rather a more general case of "copying information". The closest thing to steal in an information era would be "copy and then delete".

mbreese 8y ago

You could physically steal plans, drawings, or documentation describing inventions or technology. Infringe isn’t necessarily the best term here when the technology in question isn’t necessarily covered by copyright, but likely a mixture of patents or trade secrets. In these areas of, shall we say, ‘loose’ IP enforcement, I don’t think you’ve seen any instances of really transformational increases in technology, but rather incremental improvements. Evolution rather than revolution, if you will. I don’t think you’d see major changes without strong IP law enforcement. While there can be some rapid improvements in existing tech, with lax IP enforcement, how much new tech could you really expect? We’d end up stuck in a local minima.

chillacy 8y ago
Steal implies a loss of the physical good: if I steal your car, I get a car and you lose your car. If I steal your money you lose that quantity of cash. If I steal your idea... what have you lost? The opportunity to make money? But it's not like I took your idea and wiped the memory from your brain. So steal I don't think is the right word. As far as technology, software is relatively IP lax and innovative, which lets us mix and remix from a common knowledge pool. Imagine how much slower software development would be if we all had to pay royalties to knuth for using an if statement, royalties for using any encryption, or any algorithm which was, after all, non-obvious before it was invented.

deepnotderp 8y ago

I mean, certain Chinese companies have also been known to literally physically take blueprints and the like.

chillacy 8y ago
I didn't get the sense that the parent poster was referring to this specific case, rather a more general case of "copying information". The closest thing to steal in an information era would be "copy and then delete".