[JoshTriplett]

> Why should you deprive an inventor of the rights to his invention

"Rights" to inventions aren't innate, they're explicitly granted. Why should we grant an exclusive monopoly on publicly funded research?

[mbreese]

To add a profit motive, which in effect accelerates the fruits of the research being made available to the public and not hidden on the shelf of a lab. At least, that's the theory...