[Joeri]

I would agree that software is different in this way, but the difference is quantitative, not qualitative. Other industries have had low costs of reproduction, but this was coupled to a high cost of initial investment. Software is unique because you can credibly design and build a globally successful product on your own, and not have to involve anyone in the production and distribution of it.

This quantitative difference has revealed that the IP emperor has no clothes. Before there was an illusion that copyright and patents were a benefit to society in their current form, but this illusion is now stripped away. With 3d printing and autonomous delivery vehicles we're at the dawn of the softwarization of the material world. If we can figure out the best IP laws for software, those will eventually be the best for most if not all industries.

I personally believe that means that patents have to go. They cause more harm than they benefit. This is obvious for software, and eventually it will become obvious in all industries.