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by steveklabnik 5695 days ago
Absolutely. There's no question that without IP, things would be different. The real question is if it would be a better or worse world.
1 comments
alanh 5695 days ago
In my mind, the answer is “better” if we also no longer need to worry about money (that is, a post-capitalist system). I’m not sure about the meantime.
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steveklabnik 5695 days ago
The book that I cited up there in my huge post actually lays out a pretty compelling argument that it even works within capitalism.

IP is a pretty new concept. Things have worked really well for a long time without it.

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teamonkey 5695 days ago
Yes, capitalism is a pretty new concept also. The two go hand-in-hand.

But never before in history have we been able to copy media ad infinitum for practically zero time, cost and effort. It's always required time, an educated, talented person to copy, or resources that had a real cost.

In the case of the 3D printer the only real expense is the plastic used to print the object, which is awesome only for those who manufacture the materials.

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steveklabnik 5695 days ago
Actually, it's pretty funny: the materials are the only place where they make their money. 3D printers are sold on a total razor and blade model, the machine manufacturers make 70% of their money from materials, and something like 5% on actual machines.

Then things like this happen: http://open3dp.me.washington.edu/2009/10/sugar-sugar-powder/

> The cost of this mix is $0.15 – $0.30 per pound!

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