From The Australian:
Gadgets meet reality’s big bit
- October 11, 2012 10:00AM
- PROTECTING intellectual property, or strangling creativity and competition?
While Samsung and Apple’s ongoing court Battles have sparked heated debate among Technology and design enthusiasts across the globe, the high-profile patent case has re-ignited another debate that predates the computer age.
Beyond quibbles about source codes, rounded corners and tap-to-zoom capability are broader ones surrounding the extent to which a progressive society can, and should, stop people from imitating, taking inspiration from, or building on good ideas.
In a 2001 paper, Against Intellectual Property [link], US libertarian legal theorist Stephan Kinsella challenges some of the key schools of thought behind patents and copyrights.
One is the argument that granting copyright and patent monopolies encourage creativity because of the protection they offer. Kinsella conversely suggests there could be more innovation if companies re-directed money used on patents and lawsuits towards research, and if they couldn’t rely on a “lengthy monopoly”.
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