[ExI] Problem with Pattents

[Stefano Vaj]

On Fri, Feb 22, 2008 at 2:11 PM, Kaj Sotala <xuenay at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 2/22/08, ABlainey at aol.com <ABlainey at aol.com> wrote:
>  > I have been thinking recently about patents and whether they are
>  > fundamentally wrong. As an inventor I have no problem with people getting
>
>  I don't know about "fundamentally wrong", but they do slow down
>  innovation.

Or they do accelerate it, depending on the circumstances. Three
centuries of economic and legal studies on the rationale and
optimality of IP systems cannot seriously be liquidated in a few,
albeit ideologically inspired, lines.

The dramatic effects of even slightly different patent systems is a
very empirical issue, with no quick-and-easy answers, at least unless
one decides to take shortcuts such as the choice of implementing a
centrally-controlled economic system.

Stefano Vaj