Quote:
Originally Posted by teh603
That's an issue of patents infringing on prior art, not the length of them. As I've been saying for a while, the old Doctrine of Prior Art is dying.
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Even that aside, if something is locked away for an incredible long time, improvements are limited to simply what the copyright or patent owner chooses to. Say if I design a device that can cure cancer by simultaniously causing you to orgasm while showing you a picture of a dog riding a cat, but refuse to sell copies to the public because I think that it is perverted. Now, with the patent running out in 20 years, the integral dog riding a cat picture couldn't be duplicated or copied for another hundred or so years due to copyright, so ultimately I'd cause generations to die from cancer because of being prudish.
Now, I know that is an outlandish and far fetched possibility, but the absurdity helps show that the excessive length of protection can hinder progress.