1.0 - I Would Have Saved the World… But There was a Patent Infringement

I would have saved the world... but there was a patent infringement.

Fine, it may sound dramatic, and obviously no one would actually choose to not save the world just to avoid an IP lawsuit, and that is the problem. They don’t know they may be making that decision. People are constantly making choices about whether to pursue innovative ideas, projects, and businesses, and they are often based on the ownership or lack of copyright, patents, and IP rights. And none of them, or you, know if that endeavor would have saved you, or the world, but they never took that path so maybe you, or all of us, instead perish. And why did we die? Because someone else had the right lawyers? Sounds like something from a Vonnegut or Douglas Adams story, which is to say a cynical commentary on the foolishness of humanity.

Yes, there are all the arguments of the free market, incentivizes, etc that claim we will have less invention in the world if we don’t create the protections that promise great wealth from them but those belong in the past. If we are to solve the worlds problems, we’re going to need as much unfettered innovation as possible and the current systems were designed for a different world and are just crippling us now. They need to go.

The main flaw in the justification for them is the idea that people will just stop inventing, stop creating, and stop building if there is not a big financial reward. I don’t think this has ever been true of any innovative creator or inventor, and I think the state of the world now requires we try something new and loosen the stranglehold of copyright, patents, and IP protections so we may build on what we already have and start to truly innovate again.

Besides, China probably already stole it all anyway.