Copyright and Patent Laws Hurt the Economy

Norsefire writes "Two economists at Washington University in St. Louis are claiming that copyright and patent laws are 'killing innovation' and 'hurting [the] economy.' Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine state they would like to see copyright law abolished completely as there are other protections available to the creators of 'intellectual property' (a term they describe as 'propaganda,' and of recent origin). They are calling on Congress to grant patents only where an invention has social value, where the patent would not stifle innovation, and where the absence of a patent would damage cost-effectiveness."

Comments

The flip side of monopoly abuse

[shanen]

The other side is that many companies refuse to pursue innovations unless they see parts that can be patented to lock in the monopoly returns. Lesser profits just aren't worth the trouble of pursing innovation as they see it these days.

Alternatively, they can let some small company take the risks and just snatch it up (along with its patents) AFTER the bugs have been worked out.

MOD PARENT UP!

[ultranova]

The parent is wrong but not offtopic. Please fight mod abuse and censorship and mod him back to +2 with, for example, Underrated.