Monopolies of physical items and commodities are hard without government backing, but software is not so clear-cut. Bear in mind that anyone with copyright or patents relies on the government (either directly or indirectly via the courts) for enforcement anyway.
The tragedy of the anti-commons as it relates to copyright is that very little older content has entered the public domain since the 1920s - I cannot legally cover A Gershwin song for money, say, even though the man is long dead - and much energy, both public and private, is wasted on nonsensical interpretations of things like the DMCA. If you are film producer (say) trying to cover your legal bases by licensing any and all copyrightable material that appears in your film, it can get very expensive.
The tragedy of the anti-commons as it relates to copyright is that very little older content has entered the public domain since the 1920s - I cannot legally cover A Gershwin song for money, say, even though the man is long dead - and much energy, both public and private, is wasted on nonsensical interpretations of things like the DMCA. If you are film producer (say) trying to cover your legal bases by licensing any and all copyrightable material that appears in your film, it can get very expensive.