Re: [Fsfe-uk] Call for Evidence on Patents, Copyright, Enforcement, Competition and SME access to services

[Rob Myers]

I know it's not quantitative evidence, but this is a fun paper -

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1746343

"Intellectual property law has long been justified on the belief that 
external incentives are necessary to get people to produce artistic 
works and technological innovations that are easily copied. This Essay 
argues that this foundational premise of the economic theory of 
intellectual property is wrong. Using recent advances in behavioral 
economics, psychology, and business-management studies, it is now 
possible to show that there are natural and intrinsic motivations that 
will cause technology and the arts to flourish even in the absence of 
externally supplied rewards, such as copyrights and patents."

(via Groklaw)

- Rob.