tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798074091942701235.post8332651645363901644..comments2024-03-27T11:08:31.557-04:00Comments on Can Turtles Fly?: Anticommons and the Stifling of InnovationSivaram Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06361276466660862882noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798074091942701235.post-18470920511225478532008-08-21T10:09:00.000-04:002008-08-21T10:09:00.000-04:00Yes, nobody is hurt when individuals hoard things ...Yes, nobody is hurt when individuals hoard things for themselves. However, progress for society is set back. That's really the key argument. It's like the joke against Libertarianism: everyone and every city will be independent but no one will build a road between them.<BR/><BR/>The difficulty, of course, is how to determine what is excessive, while preventing society (hence government) from trampling individual rights.<BR/><BR/><BR/>As for intellectual property, it's a tricky thing. Excessive IP hampers innovation but lack of IP doesn't produce any innovation (in certain cases.) For example, the software industry in China or India* is basically non-existent--and if things stand as they do, it's debatable whether there ever will be. Even a country like Russia, which has top-notch computer scientists and engineers, doesn't have much of an industry.<BR/><BR/>Other industries like pharmaceuticals also argue that there would be little innovation without strong IP rights.<BR/><BR/><BR/>(* countries like India do have a sizeable software industry but most of it is for external sales. Internal sales is very small due to rampant piracy.)Sivaram Vhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06361276466660862882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798074091942701235.post-85062730230427471142008-08-21T02:18:00.000-04:002008-08-21T02:18:00.000-04:00Hmh, well, nobody has been injured if Jack doesn't...Hmh, well, nobody has been injured if Jack doesn't get to use John's widget. You can make a case for society being the poorer for John's intransigence, but then we're not the Borg, are we? <BR/><BR/>On the other hand, I don't believe in intellectual property rights of any kind. My take is that they stifle innovation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com