[Marxism] File sharing: it's the communist thing to do

[José G. Pérez <jg_perez@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From an interview with Bill Gates:

Question: In recent years, there's been a lot of people clamoring to reform
and restrict intellectual-property rights. It started out with just a few
people, but now there are a bunch of advocates saying, "We've got to look at
patents, we've got to look at copyrights." What's driving this, and do you
think intellectual-property laws need to be reformed?

Gates: No, I'd say that of the world's economies, there's more that believe
in intellectual property today than ever. There are fewer communists in the
world today than there were. There are some new modern-day sort of
communists who want to get rid of the incentive for musicians and
moviemakers and software makers under various guises. They don't think that
those incentives should exist.

And this debate will always be there. I'd be the first to say that the
patent system can always be tuned--including the U.S. patent system. There
are some goals to cap some reform elements. But the idea that the United
States has led in creating companies, creating jobs, because we've had the
best intellectual-property system--there's no doubt about that in my mind,
and when people say they want to be the most competitive economy, they've
got to have the incentive system. Intellectual property is the incentive
system for the products of the future.

http://news.com.com/Gates+taking+a+seat+in+your+den/2008-1041_3-5514121.html


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