The Real Victims in the Patent Wars | Timothy B. Lee | Cato Institute: Commentary

The Real Victims in the Patent Wars | Timothy B. Lee | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Patents are supposed to reward innovation, but in the software industry, they are having the opposite effect. The patent system has become a minefield that punishes innovators who accidentally infringe the patents of others. There are now so many software patents in force that it is practically impossible to avoid infringing them all.

The result has been an explosion of litigation. Large firms like Apple, Microsoft, Motorola, and Samsung are suing one another over mobile phone patents. And as a recent episode of This American Life documented, there are entire office buildings full of "patent trolls" that produce no useful products but sue other companies that do. What has gone largely overlooked in the coverage of the “patent wars,” however, has been the disproportionate burden placed on small firms—which has enormous consequences for the movement toward DIY innovation.'

'The patent system doesn't even offer software developers an efficient way of figuring out which patents they are in danger of infringing upon.'

'Little wonder, then, that most software firms don't even try to avoid infringement. Defending against patent litigation is simply seen as a cost of doing business in the software industry. Startups hope that by the time the inevitable lawsuits arrive, they will have grown large enough to hire good lawyers to defend themselves. But as the number of software patents—and with it, the volume of litigation—has soared, smaller companies have become targets.'

Blind Ambition Is Not a Presidential Job Qualification | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary

Blind Ambition Is Not a Presidential Job Qualification | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: '"an abnormal-psych study could be written on every president of the modern era except the one who never ran for national office, Gerald R. Ford." With apologies to Groucho Marx, anybody who wants to belong to this club shouldn't be allowed to be a member.

In his terrific book "See How They Ran," historian Gil Troy writes that "Originally, presidential candidates were supposed to 'stand' for election, not 'run.' They did not make speeches. They did not shake hands. Republican detachment from the political arena was good and dignified; actively seeking office and soliciting votes was humiliating and bad."'

'we ought to strive to make the office less powerful, and thus, a less attractive prize for those who hunger for power.'

Fixing the Federal Reserve | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary

Fixing the Federal Reserve | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'The Fed was established to provide price stability and prevent periodic banking crises. It has accomplished neither.

The wholesale price level in the United States was at almost the same level when the Fed was established in 1913 as it was in 1793, 120 years earlier. Now it takes about 22 dollars to equal the 1913 dollar. There have been far more bank failures post-Fed than pre-Fed, and we seem to be in an almost permanent state of banking crises with “too big to fail.”'

'the monetary situation could be greatly improved if: (1) The Fed were charged only with maintaining the value of the currency and nothing else; (2) others were given the right to compete with the Fed in creating money (again, provided they do not claim it is legal tender); and finally, (3) the capital gains tax were removed from commodity transactions.'

The Voting Rights Act Is Outmoded, Unworkable | Ilya Shapiro | Cato Institute: Commentary

The Voting Rights Act Is Outmoded, Unworkable | Ilya Shapiro | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Section 5 was a valuable tool in the fight against systemic disenfranchisement, but it now facilitates the very discrimination it was designed to prevent. Indeed, the prohibition on retrogression effectively requires districting that assures that minority voters are the majority in some districts — an inherently race-conscious mandate. The law, most recently renewed in 2006 for another 25 years, is based on deeply flawed assumptions and outdated statistical triggers, and it flies in the face of the 15th Amendment's requirement that all voters be treated equally.'

'Even as Section 2 requires race-based districting, Section 5, along with the 14th and 15th amendments, prohibit it. These tensions cannot but produce chaotic proceedings like those here, which are replicated every redistricting cycle.'

For decades, U.S. was major copyright pirate | Media Maverick - CNET News

For decades, U.S. was major copyright pirate | Media Maverick - CNET News: 'one of the most lucrative revenue streams for U.S. publishers during this period involved grabbing copies of British books and racing to duplicate them before rivals. Authors weren't compensated a dime, say Burrows and Wallace. But don't feel too bad for the British publishers as they had done the same to French authors.
From the book: "Some (U.S. publishers) sent agents to England with orders to grab volumes from bookstalls... and ship them west by fast packet. Copy was then rushed from the dock to the composing room, presses run night and day, and books hurried to the stores or hawked in the streets like hot corn."
According to Burrows and Wallace, one of the most successful pirates was a company that eventually became HarperCollins, now owned by News Corp.'

The Irrelevance of Worker Need and Employer Greed in Determining Wages - George Reisman - Mises Daily

The Irrelevance of Worker Need and Employer Greed in Determining Wages - George Reisman - Mises Daily: 'People ... conclude that if employers were free, wages would be driven down by the force of the employers' self-interest ... and that no resistance to the fall in wages would be encountered until the point of minimum subsistence was reached.'

'The consequence of the scarcity of labor is that wage rates in a free market can fall no lower than corresponds to the point of full employment. At that point the scarcity of labor is felt, and any further fall in wage rates would be against the self-interests of employers because then a labor shortage would ensue. Thus, if somehow wage rates did fall below the point corresponding to full employment, it would be to the self-interest of employers to bid them back up again.'

The Skeptic's Case - David M.W. Evans - Mises Daily

The Skeptic's Case - David M.W. Evans - Mises Daily: 'There are literally thousands of feedbacks, each of which either reinforces or opposes the direct-warming effect of the extra CO2. Almost every long-lived system is governed by net feedback that dampens its response to a perturbation. If a system instead reacts to a perturbation by amplifying it, the system is likely to reach a tipping point and become unstable (like the electronic squeal that erupts when a microphone gets too close to its speakers). The earth's climate is long-lived and stable — it has never gone into runaway greenhouse, unlike Venus — which strongly suggests that the feedbacks dampen temperature perturbations such as that from extra CO2.'

'his climate model predicted that if human CO2 emissions were cut back drastically starting in 1988, such that by year 2000 the CO2 level was not rising at all, we would get his scenario C. But in reality the temperature did not even rise this much, even though our CO2 emissions strongly increased — which suggests that the climate models greatly overestimate the effect of CO2 emissions.'

'It's 20 years now, and the average rate of increase in reality is below the lowest trend in the range predicted by the IPCC.'

'the earth gives off more heat when its surface is warmer. This is the opposite of what the climate models predict. This shows that the climate models trap heat too aggressively'

'the "debate" is about politics and power, and not about science or truth.'

Affirmative Action And Diversiphilia Return to the Supreme Court | Trevor Burrus | Cato Institute: Commentary

Affirmative Action And Diversiphilia Return to the Supreme Court | Trevor Burrus | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Diversity, as used by university officials and the Supreme Court in Grutter, is an ideal that treats people as members of a group first and as individuals second. It is explicitly and offensively racial, insofar as it regards any member of a group as a sufficient placeholder for any other.

This would be bad enough if the groups that concern diversiphiles even made sense. But they don’t. The category of “Asian,” for example, may include Indians, Pakistanis, Japanese-Americans, Cambodians, Chinese, and Koreans, just to name a few. These groups come from wildly different religions, languages, and cultural traditions. Some even hate each other. Nevertheless, American universities will group them into a nice little package. Similarly, the category of “Hispanic” is equally un-illuminating, describing anything from a Puerto Rican, to an Italian-Argentinian, to a Mexican of European descent.'

'They have been free to use racial characteristics as a proxy for “unique worldviews” and “authentic perspectives” despite the fact that the concept of race is both too broad and vague to capture these traits adequately. Moreover, by focusing on race as a proxy for experience, they have ignored a more important type of diversity to an educational setting: diversity of opinions and ideologies.'

'Justice John Marshall Harlan penned some of the most prescient words in American legal history: “Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens'

Volunteers Save Cities Billions, But Unions Cry Foul | Fox News

Volunteers Save Cities Billions, But Unions Cry Foul | Fox News: 'Some unions are pushing back, fearing volunteers are cutting into their territory. “They’re eroding the number of hours for our people,” says Ian Gordon of Laborer’s Union 1239 in Seattle. “It’s of great concern that they might be doing further work that we would normally do.”'

Sweet Land of Liberty -- Janet Napolitano: The New J. Edgar Hoover? | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary

Sweet Land of Liberty -- Janet Napolitano: The New J. Edgar Hoover? | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Starting in 2010, reports Infowars, Homeland Security told outside contractors "to monitor the web for media reports and comments that reflect adversely' on the agency or the federal government."'

'According to Infowars, Homeland Security officials say their search for dissonant views was just a test and "was quickly dropped as it did not meet operational requirements or privacy standards' which expressly prohibit reporting on individuals' First Amendment activities.'"'

So why was it even started or considered?