One of the critical components of the
intellectual property debate is the question of how differently we
should treat individuals and corporations. Most people seem to agree
that it's reasonable for individuals to expect ownership of their own
work for as long as until their death. But corporations are more
prone to hoard their intellectual property for as long as they
possibly can. This hoarding was not part of the original intent of
intellectual property: the intent was to promote innovation (hence
why ideas can be owned in the first place) and to improve our
country's general technical well-being. Right now, we have a system
that does the first, but not necessarily the second: companies have
inadequate incentive to let intellectual property go so the rest of
the country can eventually use it.
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