Category Archives: Intellectual Monopoly Privileges

8 published posts in this category.

How to tax the platform economy?

In the engine room of nation states, ie the tax departments, the coming battle with platform providers is taking shape. Uber, airbnb, facebook, linkedin, ebay, jobseek, and a myriad of specialised platform providers facilitate micro-trades that are largely untaxed by the autho...

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Posted in Politics - national, Politics - international, IT and Internet, Economics and public policy, regulation, Political theory, Law, Information, Intellectual Monopoly Privileges, Innovation, Social, Intellectual Property, Public and Private Goods, Death and taxes, Employment

Let’s have another World War!

Sometimes, it feels like 1910 all over again. Then, a confident Germany was the up-and-coming industrial power house, fearing an even more up-and-coming Russia, with the UK and France desperately holding on to their colonial empires. Now, a confident China is the up-and-coming...

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Posted in Politics - national, Politics - international, Philosophy, Environment, History, Miscellaneous, Humour, Society, Religion, Sport-general, Theatre, Music, Economics and public policy, Science, regulation, Gender, Journalism, Media, Geeky Musings, Climate Change, Political theory, Business, Travel, Immigration and refugees, Information, Intellectual Monopoly Privileges, Innovation, Social, Race and indigenous, Ethics, Cultural Critique, Public and Private Goods, Death and taxes, Inequality, Social Policy, Democracy, Bullshit, Indigenous, Employment

Information and the structure of institutions: W. H. Hutt edition

Fredrick Hayek was onto something fundamental in stressing the centrality of information flow to economic functioning. But because his consuming passion was on the (undoubted) evils of Soviet-style central planning, 'the market' always figured as the deus ex machina, a kind of...

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Posted in Economics and public policy, Information, Intellectual Monopoly Privileges, Innovation, Cultural Critique

Hoisted from comments: Copyright, the Google Settlement and torching the second library of Alexandria

One of the privileges of access to what we cool kids call the "back end" of Troppo is that when I write a long, long comment , in an old thread that has taken a new direction, I can make it the start of a new thread. As I'm doing here. Note that the comment originally arose fr...

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Posted in IT and Internet, Economics and public policy, Geeky Musings, Political theory, Intellectual Monopoly Privileges, Intellectual Property, Cultural Critique

The free rider problem - and opportunity: you heard it first at Troppo

Well I've been going on and on about it , but here's an academic paper contrasting the free rider problem and opportunity. Knowledge Properties and Economic Policy: A New Look By Antonelli, Cristiano (University of Turin) This paper explores the full range of effects of knowle...

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Posted in IT and Internet, Economics and public policy, Information, Intellectual Monopoly Privileges, Intellectual Property

Getting beyond woeful: my submission to the PC's inquiry on Intellectual Property

From a quick squiz at their report, the PC seems to have done an excellent job on the question of IP. It didn't put too much effort distorting its recommendations to somehow second guess what was politically palatable and just set out the appropriate principles and their upsho...

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Posted in Economics and public policy, Intellectual Monopoly Privileges, Innovation, Intellectual Property

Keeping intellectual property safe from Mickey Mouse diplomacy

Here's my column from today's SMH, Age and Brisbane Times. WHAT are Australia's strategic interests when negotiating with other countries on the extent of intellectual property (IP) rights - for instance, the duration and strength of patents and copyright? It's no Mickey Mouse...

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Posted in Economics and public policy, Intellectual Monopoly Privileges, Intellectual Property

High Court to copyright industries: why not lower your prices?

Introducing Ellen Broad: Hello Troppodillians. As some of you know, I am the patron of the Australian Digital Alliance which, broadly speaking, represents users of copyright protected products. Its members include Google, Yahoo!, each of the national cultural institutions, lib...

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Posted in Uncategorized, Economics and public policy, Intellectual Monopoly Privileges