
Entrepreneurs Tell The White House To Focus On Innovation, Not IP Enforcement - mtgx
http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20120810/02111919983/entrepreneurs-vcs-tell-white-house-to-focus-innovation-rather-than-ip-enforcement.shtml
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snowwrestler
What do these entrepreneurs all have in common? They own, operate, or invest
in server-side Internet services. Such innovative products do not need IP
enforcement because their core IP assets are protected by the client/server
barrier, or they depend on network effects to protect first-mover advantage.

Innovations which must be shipped in whole to the client--like new music, new
movies, new games, packaged software, client device software, pharmaceuticals
--are not so blessed.

For example: most video game companies ship their entire IP directly to the
customer. What keeps from making a copy of Skyrim and selling it on my website
for half the price of the original? The legal enforcement of IP protections.

I think it is really easy to fall into a bubble where "innovation" comes to
mean "the latest hosted social web service". There's a lot more to innovation
than that. Which was more innovative--The Dark Knight, or Triggit? I would say
TDK, which was a major cultural event in the U.S. Or how about Gardasil vs. I
Can Haz Cheezeburger? One will prevent thousands of cases of uterine cancer,
the other hosts user-generated cat pictures.

~~~
zacharycohn
The bigger issue with your argument that IP, copyright, etc legislation needs
to start having some separations. Medicine (physical) and mp3s (digital) are
so drastically different that there's no way you can have one piece of
effective legislation that covers both correctly.

~~~
adestefan
Your example might not be making the point that you want. Drugs are covered
under patent law while music is covered under copyright. Unless you're arguing
that the MP3 process should not be patentable that same way as the process of
making a new drug.

~~~
drumdance
Software patents are the biggest problem in my world. Definitely need reform
there.

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georgemcbay
Followup: White House tells Entrepreneurs to Focus on Donating to their
Reelection Campaigns.

(Note: This is not a dig on the current White House occupants who I voted for
and will vote for again, just politics in general).

~~~
drumdance
Where's Peter Thiel when you really need him?

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briandear
It's a good letter, but I would have appreciated a mention of lowering
corporate taxes. With a 35% corporate tax rate, that does encourage innovation
-- innovation in tax avoidance. Think of the innovation that could happen if
companies had a 15% corporate tax rate.. that would mean 20% available capital
to companies. If I suddenly had access to 20% more capital, I would hire more
people and build more things. A 35% corporate tax rate is the highest in the
industrialized world and it's as big a detriment to company growth as any IP
battle.

~~~
biot
I'm not an accountant, but aren't the salaries paid to people you hire
expenses thus not subject to corporate tax? In other words, if you make $1M a
year and spend $1M a year on salaries, you pay $0 in taxes. If you instead
spend $800K on salaries and have no other expenses, you pay tax on the $200K
in profit.

Besides which, the point of the letter was to argue a single point: innovation
over enforcement. Why stuff it up with topics like taxes, healthcare, or any
other unrelated topic that would only serve to dilute the core message?

~~~
rayiner
You're right. Taxes are in income net of salaries and expenses. If the tax
rate was 15% versus 35%, the correct statement is not that it'd free up 20% of
revenue for expansion, but rather that it would increase profits, presumably
creating greater incentives for expansion.

The way taxes are structured, lower taxes is a second-order incentives issue,
not a first-order availability of funds for expansion issue.

~~~
mgkimsal
By that logic, isn't there already _huge_ incentive for 'expansion' because
anything not plowed in to expansion will be taxed, but anything rolled in to
expansion won't be taxed?

EDIT: What we see now is the exact opposite of that - some companies sitting
on huge hoards of cash, just waiting. Waiting for what, I'm not quite sure,
but there's nothing stopping them from 'expansion' right now.

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blhack
And the white house promptly ignores it.

Guys, it took a near shutdown of the internet to get congress to back off on
SOPA/PIPA. I don't think a mere letter is going to sway anybody that matters.

~~~
wmeredith
You're right. Pack it up fellas. Let's go home.

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ihsw
Although your post seems to be tongue-in-cheek its effectiveness cannot be
understated; we are in a speedy decline that sees no means of slowing down.

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ScottBurson
I am very impressed with this letter. It summarizes the main points succinctly
and forcefully without demonizing ("MAFIAA") or taking on fringe positions
("intellectual property is theft").

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electic
I think it is a great article. I really think that all copyrights and patents
do is stifle innovation and sadly, they increase the costs for
everyone....including right owners themselves. It makes me cringe to see how
much money Google and Apple have to spend to duke it out in court. I am sure
they feel this way, but it seems like an ever escalating black hole where only
the lawyers benefit.

~~~
briandear
If I spend $1 million to develop something innovative and the guy next to me
stole that innovation; he effectively stole $1 million from me. That's a huge
disincentive to spending another million to innovate. Copyrights and patents
don't stifle innovation, they protect the creators and the resources they
expended. To drive innovation, people need to innovate, not steal. If I can't
copy the iPhone, then that drives me to create something even better, not just
an iPhone with a few little tweaks.

For those that disagree, I challenge you to open source all of the code you're
working on for your companies. Then, I'll set up an exact clone of your
application (including using your logo) and start making money from your work.
That would encourage you to innovate right? Cool, innovate, then I'll use the
new code you made, along with the new logo and continue making money from your
work.

How is THAT fair?

If you bake amazing cookies and sell them in a shop, should that cookie recipe
be given away to a competitor? Intellectual property is a critical piece of
developing a competitive advantage. Take away that competitive advantage and
we might as well be the Soviet Union.

If you create something, you should have the right to profit from it. If you
look at the innovation in China, especially in software, it's very flat
because the protections there are almost non-existent. You build something
there and it's copied almost instantly, so the incentive to innovate is much,
much lower.

Be careful what you wish for.

~~~
colinshark
You are describing what IP is supposed to do- not how it is shaping the
industry today.

Why do copyrights need to last hundreds of years?

~~~
briandear
They don't last hundreds of years.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_copyright_len...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_copyright_length)

~~~
waterlesscloud
I'm very pro-copyright, and I think copyright lasts far too long.

~~~
adestefan
Same here. I'd rather see copyright in the 15-20 year range with an optional
extension that must be registered and paid for. Especially, copyrights held by
corporations and not individuals.

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JumpCrisscross
This letter needs more distinguished signatories. The people who signed it are
accomplished in their domains but relatively unknown outside their niches.

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michaelpinto
from my years of experience working on policy issues i can tell you this:
letters like this never really do anything, sadly what works is lobbying.
lobbying requires both organization and money. the people who have a stake in
IP enforcement not only have money, but represent well established industries
that provide an base of existing jobs. so unless entrepreneurs can get their
act together -- or unless you can get the grassroots excited about giving
money this really isn't going to go anywhere.

~~~
unimpressive
> letters like this never really do anything, sadly what works is lobbying.

I'd really like to see tech companies get off their moral high horse and buy
my politicians. Their current handlers are about to destroy the 21st century.

~~~
wmeredith
Donate to companies like the ACLU and EFF. They're basically doing just what
you're asking for.

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Professoroak
It's a nice idea, but the White House won't do shit unless they think it will
help them get reelected.

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propercoil
yeah no one there gives a crap about entrepreneurs. if you still think they
care bout anything else than money then i got a bridge i want to sell ya

