IP

We are in the very first stages of what is now – and will for a long, long time be – a global Information Economy.

One of the ongoing ridiculous myths that exists on the Left – and, even more maddeningly, with some on the alleged Right – is that stealing intellectual property (IP) is…not stealing.

For the Left, joke theft is no laughing matter.

Computer giant Apple is currently in a huge intellectual property dispute with tech innovation giant Qualcomm.

Hypocrisy, thy name is Apple.

The latest FCC rule was a wise, pro-competitive, pro-property rights, and good government request from Congress to the new Chairman Pai

We are in the midst of a presidential race that is fundamentally changing how many view – and thought they knew – politics. Donald Trump especially is radically altering that map. What many thought were permanent lines – turned out to be drawn on an Etch-a-Sketch. That the presumptive Republican nominee has spent the last year shaking into oblivion.

April 26 is World Intellectual Property (IP) Day: “We celebrate World Intellectual Property Day to learn about the role that intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyright) play in encouraging innovation and creativity.”

Will the FCC create an Internet “Do Not Track” list like the FTC created the “Do Not Call” list enjoyed by three quarters of Americans?

Private property rights are a fundamental component of any successful economy. If you want a nation to prosper – property must be safe in its owners’ hands.

The benefits of government-funded university research are not shared widely enough in society, with universities retaining full ownership, for the most part, of their academic work. This means they get to profit from the government-funded research, and rarely have to share it with the taxpayers. By mandating that the research it spends so much taxpayer money on enter the public sphere, the government can more effectively spread the benefits of its own largesse and do its duty to all its citizens to provide them with the full benefit of what it produces with their tax money.

FCC staff just muffed an easy opportunity to advance the IP transition on the FCC’s timetable in the National Broadband Plan. Apparently FCC staff missed the big picture here.

If the demonization of the enforcement of intellectual property rights were to catch on, the brightest among us would be significantly less likely to invent in every case where the benefits of expending the effort do not overwhelmingly outweigh the costs.