[ericd]

And then what incentivizes a company to invest heavily in R&D if they will derive no disproportionate advantage from their discoveries? Wouldn't there be a bit of a tragedy of the commons situation where everyone tries to wait for everyone else to invest so that they can reap the reward while others bear the cost? If that comes to pass, everyone will be poorer as R&D spending slows down.

[Nasrudith]

First mover advantage and brand building. The status quo even with strong IP protections is reverse engineering and making something that can be sold legally often with additional refinements. That sort of system can be argued as working as intended for everyone.

Apple for instance can be copied easily yet iPhone knockoffs don't command comparable prices due to lack of established trust and quality. Rivals compete openly with their own R&D.

Microsoft the behemoth failed to break in the phone market even with heavy supportive measures and willingness to take a loss like they did with xbox.

[nickpsecurity]

Keeping customers. See Shenzhen which is a free-for-all but out-innovates about everyone else in product development:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJ5cZnoodY

[misabon]

You know the HN line “your business model is not my problem” that’s trotted out when it’s the advertising industry or the media industry? Well, “your business model is not my problem”.