Recent Comments:
Toshiba sues everyone over "DVD-related" patent infringement {Engadget}
Apr 10th 2007 1:40PM dunkyboy,
dunkyboy,
I would not necessarily agree with you about IPR, though it is certainly going to be a murky subject for a while as far as the law is concerned.
I was using myself in my other comment in a comparison of a potential small business owner trying to get an original product to market. I know enough about the market and its self-regulatory properties to trust it when I get out there and begin marketing my product. The problem arises when the government gives a foothold to those who would legally steal my idea and monopolize it for themselves.
Now, if someone went and copied my idea, possibly innovated on it further, and took it to market under a different name without getting any kind of licensing agreement from me, would I go and sue them for some kind of IP infringement? Well, under the current legal construct, that would be an option, but I don't think I would unless it was absolutely necessary for some reason (which I can't imagine off the top of my head). I don't operate that way. My solution is to decimate any competition in the free market alone (which is entirely possible unless the government begins to meddle with things). I think I can out-market them, out-manufacture them and out-brand them in a way that keeps me on top of the competitive pile. And I would continue to flourish, even if there was another product out there exactly like mine with a different name.
Because, for all the pushing of the socialist concept of a 'finite pie' which we are all vying to get a larger slice of, there are a LOT of customers out there who might like to buy my product. And there will be many customers for my competition, too. But them making money off a product stolen from me won't necessarily be equal to money being stolen directly out of my pocket. For whatever reason, maybe my competitor's marketing campaign appealed to their customers in a way that mine wouldn't have and those customers wouldn't have bought my product either way. In such a case, I didn't lose money. I didn't have my customers 'stolen' away from me to my competitor. And, quite possibly, due to my competition's marketing efforts, maybe they've reached a whole market segment that I didn't reach with my marketing, and those folks are now researching the product on the internet, finding mine and ending up purchasing from me. That's money MY COMPETITION spent that brought ME profit.
But, in terms of what you mentioned about socialists being all about the "open source everything" concept, you have to remember that more than the "everything belongs to the community, no individual can own anything" concept, they are even more interested in government and court-based regulation of the free market. They believe that the government can do a better job of regulating the free market than the free market itself. IPR isn't necessarily an inherent part of the free market. I would argue that it's another socialist mechanism created in order to help create 'fairness' where some imagine there isn't any. Which is what we're discussing here.
The market is a funny thing. It isn't very cut and dry at all. Here are a couple great articles regarding this subject:
http://www.fee.org/publications/the-freeman/article.asp?aid=4656
http://www.fee.org/publications/the-freeman/article.asp?aid=3488
Toshiba sues everyone over "DVD-related" patent infringement {Engadget}
Apr 10th 2007 12:00PM This is true regarding Toshiba and why they're doing what they're doing. The problem lies in the ideology that if any 'theft' of an idea by another entity is allowed to occur, that a company like Toshiba will not be able to thrive, to profit from their innovation, or even to continue to exist.
Now, in my case, let us just say that I have an idea for a product that I would like to take to market. If it is in fact patentable, what risks do I face in NOT patenting it? In the socialist mindset, I risk someone coming along and 'stealing' my idea and doing something with it in the same market in a way that prevents me from ever getting off the ground. And due to the concept of patenting, I now risk someone else not only copying my product, but patenting it right out from under me so I can't even produce it anymore, the competitor now having a monopoly over a product that I invented.
But I say in the truly free market (which abhors a monopoly), I am confident enough in my abilities as a business owner that I can sell my product effectively enough that it won't matter if I have copycats. And if I can't, then the free market has just regulated me out as it always naturally does, in favor of a better business. So, though I would rather not have to patent to sell my product, unfortunately I now must in order to be sure I can continue to do business.
And likely, even if Toshiba wins this case against companies that can be proven to be copying and selling Toshiba's stuff, others will still come along and do the same thing. And even if Toshiba doesn't pursue the new copiers, Toshiba will be fine and continue to flourish.
Toshiba sues everyone over "DVD-related" patent infringement {Engadget}
Apr 10th 2007 10:48AM So many socialists, so little time.
Obviously the people that write these anti-copyright, anti-patent emails haven't created something unique that they want to protect... talk to me after you've invented something and let's see how your tune changes.
I have, and my tune hasn't changed. I trust the market. I don't trust socialists.
So, according to your line of thinking, you must be campaigning against all the companies who have clearly 'ripped off' ideas like the TV and DVD player and cell phone to make their own, rather than enforce some kind of fairness law that ensures that there's only ONE brand of any of these things available for us to purchase in the stores. It would be only the one offered by the company that actually invented the thing.
Because, the company that invented it clearly can't make a profit or stay in business when other companies come up with their own versions and sell them along side of the original in the stores. Right?
Apocalyptic foosball: Eleven Forty's The Opus, good vs. evil {Engadget}
Apr 6th 2007 12:51PM They should make a whole series of the carved likenesses that could be swapped out manually depending on who you wanted to fight on which side... maybe even after-market opportunities?
You could have Bush, Clinton, Carter, FDR, and Lincoln all on the red side...
