[0] Some information, like intelligence information, is more valuable the less people have it, which is a major distinguishing feature here.
Doing that without properly compensating ARM is like killing the goose that lays the golden egg. ARM is already trying to make a $20 smartphone. There is already a $25 FF OS smartphone.
http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/06/20-dollar-smartphone/
How much does ARM make from such a phone after all the physical costs are taken out? a few cents?
Your unexamined assumption here is that copyright monopolies are the only way to compensate people for work like this. That's not the case.
Here's a good list (I hope you'll excuse the libertarian source): http://wiki.mises.org/wiki/Without_Intellectual_Property
People are making money today doing creating intellectual products without the benefit of copyrights and patents, and they're some of the highest margin industries out there.
If, however, we look at the actual thing society has an interest in promoting: to get people to do the hard work of original research and engineering optimization, then we find there are lots of ways to solve that problem without granting monopolies or treating information like physical property.
Doesn't ARM keep coming up with new and innovative designs? Don't they have companies like Intel nipping at their heels waiting for a misstep? Isn't ARM on server an uphill battle for them they are working on?
Why do we need to shake up their business model? To what end exactly? To make smartphones a few cents cheaper than they already are?
>If, however, we look at the actual thing society has an interest in promoting: to get people to do the hard work of original research and engineering optimization, then we find there are lots of ways to solve that problem without granting monopolies or treating information like physical property.
Go on... what are some of the "lots of ways" ? I am genuinely curious.
No, what they produce are useful designs of chips; whether they are - or should be considered - property is a different matter. After all, inventions don't become useless or unimportant the moment their patent expires.
Is this real life? I honestly can't believe people actually believe this.
I'm not completely against patents, I just think they have grown into something that is now more than slightly ludicrous and needs a serious trim before it becomes un-rescuable.
From Wiki:
>Unlike most traditional microprocessor suppliers, such as: Intel, Freescale (the former semiconductor division of Motorola) and Renesas (a former joint venture between Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric),[40] ARM only creates and licenses its technology as intellectual property (IP), rather than manufacturing and sellIng its own physical CPUs, GPUs, SoCs or microcontrollers. This model is similar to fellow British design houses: ARC International, and Imagination Technologies who have similarly been designing and licensing GPUs, CPUs, and SoCs, along with supplying tooling and various design and support services to their licensees.
All they produce, according to you, is imaginary property. But can you deny the importance of their role? How many ARM devices are in use around the world?