at the temporal coordinates: 9/7/01 2:56 PM, the entity known as
Templarsog1_at_aol.com at Templarsog1_at_aol.com conveyed the following:
> Intellectual property is just as tangible. Ask Microsoft. They are not going
> bonkers over Chinese software piracy for nothing. A perpetual monoploy, as
> you call it, is simply protection of property rights to the nth degree. Also,
> in discussions to reform the patent process in the US and Europe there is a
> groundswell of support to insure that at some point we have a system of
> patents which never expire. And rightly so.
And in so doing they will seal our fate as a civilization, as all progress
inevitably grinds to a halt. But intellectual property is NOT tangible. It
consists of IDEAS. How can I ever write a novel if I have to worry that the
plot falls too close to something that someone wrote 200 years prior? How
can I compete against a company that obtained a patent a century ago? By
this logic, we couldn't have multiple car companies (and thus competition).
The entire concept of "owning" an idea exclusively and in perpetuity is an
aberration that has primarily arisen in the 20th Century.
- Eric.
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