Against Monopoly
defending the right to innovate
Monopoly corrupts. Absolute monopoly corrupts absolutely.
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Podcast
Russell Roberts and Michele Boldrin having a conversation about David's and my book.
[Posted at 05/19/2009 09:29 AM by Michele Boldrin on Against IM 
comments(3)]
Comments
Nice to see Russ is coming around to your point of view. I'm with you and Russ
[Comment at 05/19/2009 12:40 PM by tom]
Due to the Cafe Hayek post about the podcast, I read "Against Intellectual Monopoly" (the online version). Good book! It certainly corroborates my experiences with getting and fighting patents and also copyrights and I don't disagree with its conclusions (though I personally would just reduce the term for patents and copyrights and see what happens).
I was surprised that the book seemed to purposely ignore or even exclude the natural human drive to create. For many people, creating and innovating comes as naturally as breathing.
Also, the question of whether or not things like music and fiction are so important to society that we should encourage their production anyway. If they happen, great, if not, perhaps those resources would be better spent on other activities.
[Comment at 05/20/2009 03:34 PM by Bret]
I have just written a post about your interview. Basically, what I am saying is that in Bolivia, IP law is almost non-existent and it would be a nice place to test your premise.
Musicians in Bolivia, not the music labels, are less prone to creativity now than
when piracy was not as extended as it is now.
[Comment at 05/29/2009 03:19 PM by Ernesto]
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