If only we were permitted to view the digital IP rights tyranny as another disruptable industry with latent energy that could be unlocked by a savvy founder...
The economic activity & value directly suppressed by IPR is unbelievable. Hard to even mentally scratch the surface. It's extremely economical (for society) to digitally copy and distribute useful information.
Most Western IP laws are draconic in the purest sense of the word.
Unfortunately their is a very influential sect of "corporate-law fearing" IP fanatics at the heart of many FOSS tech traditions (RMS, et al). Not all of it is pragmatic.
> Most Western IP laws are draconic in the purest sense of the word.
IP laws in most countries are also not decided by a democratic process but rather pushed in by trade deals, which also make it almost impossible to change those laws.
In a society with different laws, there would be no problem. I wonder what would be greater - the productivity gain when we would not have to make workarounds due to licensing, and when we could just legally access the source code of everything. Or the loss, because people might have less incentive to innovate, or they would just keep the source hidden.