4 ms·
Exactly this. I worked for a few years in big tech, and it was crystal clear that patents and copyrights were awful in tech. But I believed the lie that maybe i
by breck 6y ago
Exactly this. I worked for a few years in big tech, and it was crystal clear that patents and copyrights were awful in tech. But I believed the lie that maybe in medicine, they were needed.
I spent a few years in medical research and realized that ohhhh shit, even worse in this industry.
The whole thing is a big lie.
End copyrights. End patents. The ideal length is zero. There is no case to be made to support them. We need to abolish them outright.
- anticensor 6y agoNot zero, but 3½ years for patents and 21 years (7+3½ per extension) for copyright is enough.
- breck 6y agoTesla does not make hybrids. Ab initio.
- hi_im_miles 6y agoBut why have them at all, especially if we’re going to shoot for arbitrary amounts of time? I don’t buy that IP protections incentivize innovation anymore than they prevent it. The reality is that the gains from intellectual property are not distributed evenly, and corporate executives know this. If IP is making you millions of dollars, that is a very different situation from IP just “making you a living.” Even if you are doing well as a small IP-based business, you’re still stuck paying a premium on everything you buy (thanks to the existence of IP monopolies), and you still have little recourse against IP violations from large corporations and anonymous pirates. I just don’t get how this isn’t all an enormous waste of resources for anyone but the already rich, or a completely raw deal for people who mod games, remix music, repair electronics, etc etc.
- breck 6y agoAgree with you and well put. One slight nit: it helps if you don't spread the big lie "intellectual property" (since it's an oxymoron). Someone here on HN told me about the term "imaginary property" which works great, because then you can still use the "IP" acronym.
- andi999 6y agoThere is no extension (and even filing system) for copyright. Do you want to introduce that?
- anticensor 6y agoYes, and unregistered copyright would be treated as public domain.
- andi999 6y agoSo you write a letter and dont want it published by the recipient, you need to file? Or all software written in a company, file? What about confidential stuff, file?
- anticensor 6y agoAbolition of intellectual property does not mean abolition of privacy; original author will still have the right of initial publication, but once published, no privacy assumptions and no recirculation restrictions unless registered.
- andi999 6y agoUnder which law is the privacy of a private letter enforced?
- JamesBarney 6y agoDrugs are much easier to copy than software programs (i.e. there's no copyright protection). And it currently costs billions of dollars to get FDA approval. Basically assume I find a new antidepressant. I spend 2 billion dollars proving it's safe and effective. How do I get my money back when any drug manufacturer can now manufacture the same drug?