Entrepreneurs Tell The White House To Focus On Innovation, Not IP Enforcement
What do these entrepreneurs all have in common? They own, operate, or invest in server-side Internet services. Such innovative products do not need IP enforcement because their core IP assets are protected by the client/server barrier, or they depend on network effects to protect first-mover advantage.Innovations which must be shipped in whole to the client--like new music, new movies, new games, packaged software, client device software, pharmaceuticals--are not so blessed.For example: most video game companies ship their entire IP directly to the customer. What keeps from making a copy of Skyrim and selling it on my website for half the price of the original? The legal enforcement of IP protections.I think it is really easy to fall into a bubble where "innovation" comes to mean "the latest hosted social web service". There's a lot more to innovation than that. Which was more innovative--The Dark Knight, or Triggit? I would say TDK, which was a major cultural event in the U.S. Or how about Gardasil vs. I Can Haz Cheezeburger? One will prevent thousands of cases of uterine cancer, the other hosts user-generated cat pictures.