Re: Some interesting economic facts

[Matt Deatrick <mattd@shocking.com>]

	Well said Doug. My point is that in information, in some but not
all cases, patents are antithetical to progress.
	Matt

On Wed, 22 Apr 1998, Doug Masson wrote:

> > 
> > It is true that patents and copyrights provide exclusivity for a limited time
> > both as an incentive to create and as a way of eventually bringing the
> > invention or artistic work into the public domain.
> > 
> > --Brett Glass
> 
> Without patents or copyrights, the process or expression would be in the
> public domain as soon as it was distributed to the public I would imagine.
> Another thing that bears mentioning is the constitutional basis for
> intellectual property. 
> 
> The authority of Congress to pass copyright and patent laws is
> grounded in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the U. S. Constitution which
> says, "The Congress shall have Power . . . To promote the Progress of
> Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times
> to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings
> and Discoveries." 
> 
> This is an instrumental clause which gives congress the power to promote
> the progress of science and the useful arts. Arguably, Congress does not
> have the power to secure to authors and inventors the exclusive right to
> their respective writings and discoveries if securing those rights does
> nothing to promote the progress of science and the useful arts.
> 
>