Posts by mattblack

The big question is whether patents work for the benefit of society

The theory of why patents should work for the good of society is well known. But the empirical question (ie whether the benefits actually materialise) is much less studied.

There is a body of evidence that suggests the benefits are not seen in reality and that most intellectual property restrictions have been bad for us, at least since the early patents on the steam engine which held back progress for decades. There is a good summary of the arguments and the evidence on the skeptics stackexchange site here: http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/6647/do-patents-boost-innovation

(I wrote one of the answers summarising the book-length case from Against Intellectual Monopoly available as a pdf for free here: http://www.dklevine.com/general/intellectual/againstfinal.htm )

In summary: the benefits of patents are not as obvious as the normal arguments for them would lead you to expect.

The argument that strong IP is necessary is much weaker than it sounds...

Arguments about IP should be based on pragmatic not ideological grounds. For example, if holders overcharge for IP there will be more piracy; if holders don't release content in convenient forms there will be more piracy (try finding the DVD of the move Zero Effect in the UK, never mind the online version or compare the size of Lovefilm's DVD library to their streaming library).

The fastest way for content providers to limit piracy is to compete with it in convenience and not to rip consumers off on the price.

Besides, there is a distinction between profits and excessive profits from exploiting a monopoly and most capitalist governments normally restrict the second. Except, it seems, for IP and copyright where content providers have grown fat and lazy on excessive monopoly margins. In reality IP protection is a bargain with government to allow a monopoly in exchange for something else (for patents, its public disclosure of innovations). But the argument that content would dry up without strong protection sounds good but is less obvious in the light of history than you would expect. For a proper discussion see the debate here: http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/6647/do-patents-boost-innovation