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> But… tell China this same argument. That they should not protect their self interest and see how well it goes over. Note that my argument is one of prioritiz

> But… tell China this same argument. That they should not protect their self interest and see how well it goes over. Note that my argument is one of prioritization -- to protect our self-interest, we have a lot more pressing problems at home than Intel et al losing a few bucks because they let the wrong people see the secret formula, and wasting precious human and financial resources on the wrong problems can be worse than doing nothing. As you mention, China on the other hand can afford to worry about problems like this, given their 0.7% poverty rate as of 2015 (despite some glaring issues like ethnic genocide, free speech, etc). In the U.S. we have an 11% poverty rate and nearly a million dead from COVID. We don't have time or resources to play the secret formula game with walkie-talkies in tree forts. Gotta do our homework pretty soon or it will be bed with no supper.

shadowgovt 5y ago
The irony of all of this, of course, is that we already have a system in place for protecting secret formulae: you patent them. But here we get on the issue of the question of international espionage and whether it matters if you patent something in the US if China will just refuse to enforce an international patent. Perhaps there's a case to be made that in a world where superpowers don't obey each others' laws, this was never going to be Samsung's $1 billion to make... It seems like when you sum it all up, this is a really good time to be a Chinese tech firm.
- sam0x17 5y ago
  It just goes to show that patents are stupid at the end of the day. From a harm-reduction standpoint, they do way, way more harm in the form of astronomically high drug prices, core pieces of technology being off limits even though almost anyone could have invented them, etc., etc., than they help. Patents, like intellectual property, are an imaginary legal construct, and if you want to compete in a global economy, you have to assume others aren't going to buy into your imaginary concept, particularly when it comes to opposing global powers. A lot of knock-off technology is actually _created_ by people reverse-engineering things _from_ the patent as well, which they then mass-produce in a jurisdiction that doesn't respect U.S. intellectual property (AKA China where most things are mass-produced). The real system of protection in place for protecting secret formulae is simple and more effective -- don't show it to the wrong people, and don't outsource your factories.

shadowgovt 5y ago

The irony of all of this, of course, is that we already have a system in place for protecting secret formulae: you patent them. But here we get on the issue of the question of international espionage and whether it matters if you patent something in the US if China will just refuse to enforce an international patent. Perhaps there's a case to be made that in a world where superpowers don't obey each others' laws, this was never going to be Samsung's $1 billion to make... It seems like when you sum it all up, this is a really good time to be a Chinese tech firm.

sam0x17 5y ago
It just goes to show that patents are stupid at the end of the day. From a harm-reduction standpoint, they do way, way more harm in the form of astronomically high drug prices, core pieces of technology being off limits even though almost anyone could have invented them, etc., etc., than they help. Patents, like intellectual property, are an imaginary legal construct, and if you want to compete in a global economy, you have to assume others aren't going to buy into your imaginary concept, particularly when it comes to opposing global powers. A lot of knock-off technology is actually _created_ by people reverse-engineering things _from_ the patent as well, which they then mass-produce in a jurisdiction that doesn't respect U.S. intellectual property (AKA China where most things are mass-produced). The real system of protection in place for protecting secret formulae is simple and more effective -- don't show it to the wrong people, and don't outsource your factories.