Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Intellectual Property
Several years ago I remember struggling through the intellectual property debate when MP3 were so easily exchanged using certain software, but then the Feds hunted people down like dogs, and I decided that financially the debate was over. Since my brother pointed me over to the Mises Institute's website, I managed to find a lecture on this very subject. Apparently, not only was I right on some points, I didn't go far enough. Click here to listen to a very challenging lecture on Intellectual Property. It turns out, there is no such thing except for those who love monopolies and hate real freedom. JUST LISTEN ALREADY!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This is a great subject for a new libertarian to challenge his/her own beliefs. I have always assumed that IP rights such as patient rights and so on were legit and needed to protect the ideas people came up with.
ReplyDeleteThen of course with so many presuppositions in the concervative frame of mind, I learned what the truth is behind IP rights.
IP rights dont only actually remove freedom from other individuals. They protect monoplies as you say. But even if you are a collectivist or an ultarianist, you need to understand that IP rights slow down technological advancment. And technology is what creates wealth in the first place! Yes people may be more motivated to follow through with an idea if they have the law protecting their IP. But if someone comes up with an idea and there is no such thing as IP rights, will that person just throw away their idea? Of course not, it will get done anyway and now everyone can instantly build off it instead of waiting for patients to expire. The only difference is you will limit how much one person can make off a single idea. With no IP rights, many many people can make money off one idea and most often by improving on the origonal idea. IP rights hinder advancement in technology.
To your point on protecting monopolies: Here is a specific example I am personally familiar with:
I remember when I used to work for Gillette and we came out with the new "Mach III" razor. Of course they patiented it every which way possible. When Schick came out with their new 4 bladed razor to compete. What did Gillette do? They sued Schick for 37 different patient infringments. They won a few of these suits and Schick had to pay and I believe change their design.
I specifically remember one of these suits was about the actual blade angle. Gillette was allowed to patten the angle of the blade! Think about that for a minute? They were allowed to say they owned the idea of the blade sitting in the cartridge at 37.5° (or whatever angle it was). So technically if you hold a regular razor blade in your hand and put it at this same angle to tear of wall paper in your home, you should first be checking with Gillette and see if its OK! At the time I thought hurray, my livlihood is better protected. But I didnt consider the millions of dollars Schick sunck into their razor and the jobs at stake there. Not to mention, the overall advancement in shaving technology and the competition it would have brought would have lowered the price of razors thus making anyone who buys from either company more wealthy (and if you know what Gillette charges for these, its not small change!)
How many times have you come up with an idea that you did not know was already in existance? then you find out it is and say "aw crap now I cant do anything with it"
You completely came up with the idea independantly and just because someone else had the 5 grand to patten it first, you are shit out of luck. Who cares if you do steal an idea.
General science discovery does not work this way, it is the ultimate free market. Someone discovers a new theory about the atom or black holes or whatever. They write about it and publish it for all other scientists to see. Other scientists critique it. Give their views about its validity or prove it false. Then if it hold ground, everyone is allowed to build from it. IP should work exactly the same way.
Again, we need to start think like Libertarians to chalenge all these assumptions that so many Americans hold to be valid. We are supposed to be free! Not limiting what someone can do with their imagination because someone else happened to patient or copywrite it.