John Perry Barlow ‘s 1994 Wired article, “ The Economy of Ideas: A framework for patents and copyrights in the Digital Age ,” tagged: “(Everything you know about intellectual property is wrong.)”, is a classic. Written at the dawn of the Internet, it’s amazing how non -dated it is. It’s a fascinating, well-written, and insightful paper about the
As I noted in Copypats , many non-specialists and proponents of IP erroneously believe that copying is an element of patent infringement--they conceive of the typical patent infringer as some bad guy who knocked off, or “stole,” the patentee-inventor’s idea. They are usually unaware that proving copying is neither necessary nor sufficient to prove
There are some decent arguments out there that argue in favor of a state, welfare rights, war, democracy, drug laws, and so on. They are all flawed, since libertarianism is right, but there are coherent, honest arguments that we libertarians have to grapple with. But it is striking that there are no decent arguments for IP--as Manuel Lora remarked
In this comment on a post here, I was accused of hiding or avoiding mention of one of Mises’s comments about copyrights and patents. I suppose the commentor was unaware of my extensive quotes of Mises in this comment on another thread, which quoted a large deal of Mises’s remarks on IP, including the one in question. So much for suppression. Since
Study Finds Patent Systems May Not Be an Effective Incentive to Encourage Invention of New Technologies reports: A new study published in The Columbia Science and Technology Law Review challenges the traditional view that patents foster innovation, suggesting instead that patents may harm new technology, economic activity, and societal wealth.
In his post Reality Check: Anti-Patent Patent Musings Simply Bizarre , patent attorney Gene Quinn is baffled that any patent attorney would openly oppose the patent system--or be hired by anyone. He writes, in part: But what has me really wondering is how and why a patent attorney who is openly hostile to the patent system can get any work in the
In Jeff Tucker’s superb article If You Believe in IP, How Do You Teach Others? , he notes Rand’s increasing focus on exalting the creator and elevating “intellectual rights” to such a height that they totally trump real rights. This is no exaggeration. As I noted in Against Intellectual Property , Rand actually, incredibly said that “ patents are
Someone recently told me “I just ran across a few of your interviews and writings. I was particularly impressed with the point that IP creates scarcity where none existed before. Despite its obviousness, it is characteristic of IP that had not occurred to me before.” So I thought I would elaborate a bit on this. The “artificial scarcity” insight
In Apple May Use ‘Nuclear Arsenal’ to Delay Palm’s IPhone Rival , Bloombert reports: “Apple Inc., usually on the defensive when it comes to intellectual-property lawsuits, is threatening to use its hoard of patents to quash iPhone competitors.” This follows up from Veksler’s post on the same issue. For shame, Apple, for shame. They appear to be
I was chatting with my son tonight whilst reading Hucklebery Finn , when we came to the part where Huck and the slave Jim are trying to get to the Free States. My son mentioned that they could use the underground railroad . It got me to thinking. The underground railroad “was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.