Intellectual Property should be abolished - change my mind!
Intellectual Property should be abolished - change my mind!
I am strongly convinced that the possession of ideas and creations of the intellect is not possible. In my opinion, only physical things can be possessed, that is, things that are limited, that is, that can only be in one place. The power or the freedom to do with the object what one wants corresponds to the concept of possession. This does not mean, however, that one must expose everything openly. This is ultimately the difference between proprietary solutions, where the "construction manual" is kept to oneself, and the open source philosophy, where this source is accessible to everyone.
As the title says, I would oppose this thesis to your arguments and hope that together we can rethink and improve our positions. Please keep in mind that this can be an enrichment for all, so we discuss with each other and not against each other ;)
I don't think it should be abolished, people should have the chance to be the only ones making money of off their original idea/design/whatever. IMO those rights need to be stripped down a lot:
- intellectual property is only for commercial work - individuals can legally reproduce whatever they want as long as they don't make money off it
- all intellectual property expires after 5-10 years (not sure whether 5 or 10 is better, would have to think about it) - 10 years is more than enough to make money of your original idea before anyone else can
- if the discovery is deemed of public interest (as an example, you create a cure for cancer), one of these two must happen (at the discretion of patent/copyright/IP holder):
- you work with regulators to set the price
- you allow other companies to use your idea freely (basically you get rid of your IP/copyright/patent)
The only thing I wouldn't change significantly is trademark, it's IMO reasonable to forbid others using your name (or other trademark) to pretend they're you.
1Nice take! Could you explain to me where you drew this line? I always try to imagine why a line can be drawn right there or why not. According to my argumentation, this boundary lies with things that can be controlled and that are limited as objects. So if I pass on a gold bar then you have control over it but I no longer do. Thoughts and ideas would be something else. I can keep my idea undiminished whether someone copies it or not. Nor can I control who can own this idea or how someone uses it.
Do you have a similar train of thought for your border concept?
1It's quite simple, if you come up with something popular, there are corporations that would happily copy it to get the money for themselves and you're left with nothing, And if people feel like their idea can't make them money because someone richer will steal it, they'll stop having ideas.
At the same time I don't think you should be able to hold copyright etc. for a hundred years like it is now, that's just disgusting.
The rest of my previous comment I think has clear reasoning, if not, feel free to ask.
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I agree, it's the perpetual copyright that is really harmful. I like the idea of it lasting one generation, around 20 years. Another idea is that all IP has to be declared and maintained over time for some nominal fee. This would allow a lot more unused IP to enter the public domain simply because nobody bothers to keep renewing it at a certain point.
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