Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Intellectual property? Bye bye, America. Hello World.

As a New Zealand citizen living in the US, in the past I have been very polite about the glaringly hideous monstrous scenaios I continually encounter, and instead of shouting "What the FUCK do you people think you are doing?!?", I have smiled and politely avoided the subjects, because any objective discussion with True Believers is virtually impossible.

However, I am discovering that such forbearance is actually a disservice to Americans, because they live in such a fog of denial, and are now so busily destroying the amazing country their forefathers and fathers bequeathed them, it is time to kick some ass.

"America's intellectual-property system is a travesty which threatens the wealth and welfare of the whole world."
Patents against prosperity

Thank you, Britain, and the finest magazine in the world. I have raised this point with poverty-stricken scientists here in the US, who clutch their patents like orphans in their own sand box, forlornly believing that somehow these things have intrinsic value, completely lacking the understanding that taking a concept and turning it into a product that works reliably in the hands of a rough black woman in Oakland is actually the real challenge.

The US intellectual property scenario is a toilet. The US is about to sink itself under the weight of the "bankers and lawyers" leechdom, propelled by self-entitled 'scientists', aided by patent laws that allow you to patent your mother in law's ass, as long as your patent description is equivalently broad.

One of the points that the article misses is the glaring omission in US law that encourages frivolous lawsuits. That is, the loser pays. If you sue somebody in the UK, or New Zealand, and you lose, then you pay their costs. And if you are a law firm who participates in such a law suit, and you lose, and your clients can't pay, then the law firm has to cough up the money.

This cuts bullshit law suits dramatically, particularly when you add damages for bringing frivolous lawsuits.

The article makes a very good point. It doesn't matter if the tech emerges in the US, China, or India. The rest of the world is no longer sitting there waiting for this fat, dysfunctional princess to deign to present them with new products. And the innovative American companies are now few and far between.

So maybe you would all like to join my Buddhist meditation classes. I teach Americans how to sit with a beatific smile as they watch their country being eviscerated, and to admire the vast scale of the stupidity and audacity that is making this happen.

It is easy to choose the next thing worth watching: just look for unbelievable stupidity and continuous inaction in desperate situations. Maybe New Orleans is over, but the FAA is just beginning, and the meltdown in intellectual property paralysis is just getting under way.

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