The VP8 wars heat up ... again [LWN.net]

The VP8 wars heat up ... again

Posted Apr 5, 2013 17:10 UTC (Fri) by Aliasundercover (guest, #69009)
In reply to: The VP8 wars heat up ... again by giraffedata
Parent article: The VP8 wars heat up ... again

> Proof that patent law never stimulates innovation? I don't see how, so I think you're arguing some point other than what has been made in this thread so far.

It is becoming apparent you really do mean "any" innovation as opposed to the "enough innovation to be a net benefit considering the costs" everyone else is talking about. People may read your words which speak to a triviality but respond assuming you mean something more reasonable. No one is making a serious claim patent law never stimulates ANY innovation. No one cares. What matters is if it is a net benefit.

It is a good bet LSD has inspired some innovation. Same for crippling personal injuries. Forget about any. If people wrote here claiming IP law produces absolute zero innovation they were engaging in hyperbole.

The IP law we have is doing harm as its costs greatly exceed its benefits.

Where is the evidence patents are a net benefit in software? Before software patents we had a field with the most dramatic innovative explosion of modern times. Our society received huge benefits, many people earned a good living while others became rich, all in an unusually open field. Now with software patents we have dramatic consolidation, less innovation coming from less players.

Please do tell us about all the stagnant industries which become innovative and vibrant once patents came in to wide use. Logic and faith do indeed overlap in an important way. Too often people think they remove the need for objective observation of the real world.

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The VP8 wars heat up ... again

Posted Apr 6, 2013 16:22 UTC (Sat) by giraffedata (guest, #1954) [Link] (1 responses)

It is becoming apparent you really do mean "any" innovation as opposed to the "enough innovation to be a net benefit considering the costs" everyone else is talking about.

Everyone except possibly one, who explicitly said, "Anybody that says that IP law stimulates innovation is living in a dream world." While that author may have meant, "... enough innovation to be a net benefit," it's easy for someone to assume the author wrote what he meant, and I wanted to make sure readers don't think that it is generally agreed that patents have no up side, or that LWN readers are so simple that they can't see two sides to an issue.

Given that you figured out that I meant only what I wrote when I said patents stimulate innovation, I don't know what to make of the additional four paragraphs fighting the straw man who thinks patents are great.

The VP8 wars heat up ... again

Posted Apr 7, 2013 14:59 UTC (Sun) by pboddie (guest, #50784) [Link]

While that author may have meant, "... enough innovation to be a net benefit," it's easy for someone to assume the author wrote what he meant, and I wanted to make sure readers don't think that it is generally agreed that patents have no up side, or that LWN readers are so simple that they can't see two sides to an issue.

It is actually possible to refute that "IP law stimulates innovation" by comparing the normal level of innovation with that under the observed legal regime. Even if individuals or organisations are encouraged to innovate by the availability of monopoly grants, if the general level of innovation decreases, any claim of the benefits of the "IP law" in question can be refuted at the most pertinent level of discussion.