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Critic of Software Patents Wins Nobel Prize in Economics
doom writes "You've probably already heard that the Nobel Prize for Economics was given to three gents who were working on advances in mechanism design theory. What you may not have heard is what one of those recipients was using that theory to study: 'One recent subject of Professor Maskin's wide-ranging research has been on the value of software patents. He determined that software was a market where innovations tended to be sequential, in that they were built closely on the work of predecessors, and innovators could take many different paths to the same goal. In such markets, he said, patents might serve as a wall that inhibited innovation rather than stimulating progress.' Here's one of Maskin's papers on the subject: Sequential Innovation, Patents, limitation (pdf).
Seconded. The Nobel Prize in Economics is NOT a real Nobel, and is awarded by the socialist Swedish central bank. Their awards are biased.
Honestly any economist who doesn't recognize the value of creating and protecting intellectual property rights in an information economy is a POORLY trained economist. Hernando de Soto has pegged a lack of real property rights as the primary issue that prevents wealth from being created in the third world (agricultural economies). It follows that in economies (such as the US/Europe) which derive their wealth, more and more, from intellectual property, that the ability to protect those rights is ultimately to our benefit.
Opinionated Law Student Strikes Again!
everybody wang chung tonight
The point is that they didn't award it to somebody who was actively working toward peace. They awarded it to somebody whose action "may" prevent an imaginary future war the conditions for which haven't even been set yet.
/. fanboys promoting Torvalds or Stallman for a peace prize under the auspices of Linux contributing to third world education, and education helping to prevent wars. I love Linux, but it wouldn't qualify anyone for a prestigious peace prize.
Even if you admire Gore's efforts, it's a pretty big stretch to link what he's doing to peace, let alone to say that his work attempts enough of a peace contribution to qualify for an award. The politicization of this award is pretty transparent.
This wouldn't be much different that
also dead, its it will be among visions going Fact: *BSD is dying this vEry moment, The ooficial GAY the BSD license,
Considering the current politics of that country, anything to the left of Benito Mussolini is a raging commie.