Additionally, if you read any of the software patents, they are written in intentionally obscure, outrageously dense and purposely obfuscated language, as to sound more generic and vague and capture more "space". They have tons of claims which repeat the same thing with tiny variations, they describe most mundane things as if it were huge novelty, and they are made as hard to read to a common person as possible without switching to Sanskrit. They never increase sharing of any information and never are written with this goal in mind.
That can't be true. There are about 50,000 new phds a year, all of their dissertations are public. Those are all required to be novel, right? so clearly, it's not the only incentive. There are many incentives, recognition, fame, and funding to name a few.
> Patents increase the sharing of information, they do not reduce it.
Ok, sure, but reading the patent creates a minefield for any future work. Was it your idea or did you read it in a book? Some people can answer this question remarkably well, remembering the source for every concept they employ. If on the other hand, you're not good at this, reading patents is very dangerous. Triple damages encourages not reading patents.
> The second point is covered by prior art.
No, an infringing idea after publication of a patent is by definition not prior art. It can be a completely independent discovery, but it's still infringing. Again, independent discovery seems to indicate, to me anyway, it's obvious.
Do you know of anyone who has had a software development problem, searched a patent database, found a solution in the database, then implemented that solution? I know that I never have, if people actually do that I'd be interested to know what sort of problems they are working on.
You don't look at mp3s patents to build your own awkward version of a sound compression algorithm, you just use mp3
And compression is really close to pure math to start with.
Not true at all. Huge amounts of mathematical research, scientific research, fashion design, and culinary innovation are shared with the public every day without absolutely no patent protection. When was the last time you read a story in a newspaper about a patent filing? How useful was the information in that patent to anybody?
It does not imply that narrow niches where patents can work do not exists, but it requires that any statement about benefits of patents must be backed up with credible data. And so far I am not aware of those.
The second point is covered by prior art.