Why Intellectual Property Is Heading Down the Wrong Path

November 4, 2009

While protection of intellectual property is good, I am wary of the influence of large companies in the creation and enforcement of intellectual property laws. Large companies, such as Microsoft, IBM and HP, have lots of influence. They make lots of money and have many employees. They can afford lobbyists and wield a lot of political influence. They also influence their employees’ political views. In addition, I have yet to meet a person that gives priority to intellectual property when choosing who to vote for. I suspect people usually put other political issues in front of intellectual property, as I often do. As a result, large companies get too much say. There are some organizations, such as the Free Software Foundation, which make their stance clear on IP; however, they are not powerful enough to sway politicians. It is extremely important that individuals make their voices heard about copyright and software patents.

http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2003-09-07-1.html

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/search/wrapper.jsp?arnumber=1220592

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=1197470&isnumber=26946

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_control_of_ideas