MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Chronicle of Higher Ed: History of Intellectual Property Piracy

zerospinboson · 02-23-2010, 11:29 AM

Another book that seems to be more or less in the same league as this, only from an economic perspective, and paying much more attention to innovation rather than creative work creation, is this book, Against intellectual Monopoly.
I can't quite get a feel for what Johns's approach is, but the point Boldrin & Levine make is deceptively simple: Monopolies stifle innovation, patents make sure competitors have to invest more to create a me-too product (because of the broadness of the notion of what a patent is), and only competition drives innovation. (I mention this book in part because they also discuss this sheet music pirate.)
While piracy plays a role on the sidelines, there isn't an industry that can't manage without IPRs; the only thing is they want higher profit margins.

02-23-2010, 11:29 AM	#5
zerospinboson "Assume a can opener..." Posts: 755 Karma: 1942109 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Local Cluster Device: iLiad v2, DR1000	Another book that seems to be more or less in the same league as this, only from an economic perspective, and paying much more attention to innovation rather than creative work creation, is this book, Against intellectual Monopoly. I can't quite get a feel for what Johns's approach is, but the point Boldrin & Levine make is deceptively simple: Monopolies stifle innovation, patents make sure competitors have to invest more to create a me-too product (because of the broadness of the notion of what a patent is), and only competition drives innovation. (I mention this book in part because they also discuss this sheet music pirate.) While piracy plays a role on the sidelines, there isn't an industry that can't manage without IPRs; the only thing is they want higher profit margins. Last edited by zerospinboson; 02-23-2010 at 12:02 PM.