Episode Details

Our last episode dealing strictly with patents...next up, trademarks and copyrights Supreme Court to decide: What kind of innovations get a patent? by Warren Richey http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1108/p02s13-usju.html High court considers whether business methods can be patented by Peter Whoriskey http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/09/AR2009110903301.html The patent industry relies on the coercion of government to garner profits Patents being State-granted monopolies, rather than fostering innovation, work to hinder it Much wealth is squandered on patent litigation, and the unseen costs are immense Walking the tightrope of governmental regulation is illusory; any intervention is damaging and unjust Threatening people with violence and limiting their actions doesn't promote progress in the useful arts and sciences There is no such thing as a "limited monopoly" Arbitrary is the name of the patent game, as well as the government game Various Libertarians, such as Mary Ruwart (http://www.ruwart.com/), apparently have yet to question the IP memes, patents in particular FDR interview - http://www.freedomainradio.com/Traffic_Jams/FDR_1504_dr_mary_ruwart_interview.mp3 You should not be able to control the property of others, regardless of whether they are using "your ideas" A world without IP encourages constant improvement and innovation If patented ideas are so great, just like governmental "services" (allegedly), people in a free marketplace will choose them Intellectual Property Regime Stifles Science and Innovation, Nobel Laureates Say by Dugie Standeford http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2008/07/07/intellectual-property-regime-stifles-science-and-innovation-nobel-laureates-say/ IP creates a worse economic environment for the poor, in addition to the rest of society When you accept the meme of government, you end up promoting all sorts of fallacies and non sequiturs in order to do damage control Abolishing government (and obviously the FDA) would mean abolishing the unnecessary costs of drug development (the lion's share of the costs) Where Are the Cures? by Michael Heller http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/0811/030.html Ownership rights shouldn't clash; given this, there is no such thing as "too much ownership" Modifying the patent system won't work, and it isn't moral; IP must be abolished Once a system of monopolistic privileges is set up, few will repudiate it You don't make money within a patent system by being creative, so much as employ laws and courts to prevent competition Harvard Among Six Schools Urging Drug Access for Poor by John Lauerman http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aa23AHBWnxew The notion that without patents no profits could be made is simply a rationalization for the status quo IP creates conflict by trying control what other people may and may not do with their own property Seen and Unseen Cost of Patents by Jeffrey A. Tucker http://www.lewrockwell.com/tucker/tucker126.html further Tucker reading... The Hoax of Invention History by Jeffrey A. Tucker http://www.lewrockwell.com/tucker/tucker131.html Do Patents Save Our Lives? by Jeffrey A. Tucker http://www.lewrockwell.com/tucker/tucker132.html IP: It's a Market Failu