[anvuong]

Lawfully? How many IPs have they stolen from universities and companies across the world?

[throw0101d]

> Lawfully? How many IPs have they stolen from universities and companies across the world?

Probably about the same as the US when it was a developing nation. "How the United States Stopped Being a Pirate Nation and Learned to Love International Copyright":

> From the time of the first federal copyright law in 1790 until enactment of the International Copyright Act in 1891, U.S. copyright law did not apply to works by authors who were not citizens or residents of the United States. U.S. publishers took advantage of this lacuna in the law, and the demand among American readers for books by popular British authors, by reprinting the books of these authors without their authorization and without paying a negotiated royalty to them.

* https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/plr/vol39/iss1/7/

[Aloisius]

Patents (what protects inventions) have nothing to do with copyright.

[faust201]

Nice. IP is one thing that has ruined many things. Unless you are WIPO and Oracle Fan.

All current AI companies are closed. What benefit?

Most things from Uni are published openly.

BTW, did people in US pay royalty to China for inventing paper?

[mikestorrent]

Yeah, people forget that IP is a social construct, and there's no reason a different society can't simply have different constructs. Open source / Free software is a different social construct too; and Stallman would have us live in a world where nobody is enriching themselves with proprietary technology they exert unfair control over.

Problem has always been ensuring that people who have brilliant ideas get appropriately rewarded for their contribution to humanity - but not disproportionately.

[throw-the-towel]

Taking your China comment in good faith: the copyright term on paper has long elapsed anyway, even if there's Mickey Mouse drawn on the paper in question.

[LunaSea]

When was paper invented again?

Also does China publish it's companies IP publicly or is it just a one-sided relationship?

[treyd]

Intellectual property as it exists and is used today overwhelmingly is used to stifle competition and lock down monopolies. It's used to project power internationally by deputizing foreign countries to protect American business interests. It's a far cry from how it's popularly presented as a way for the "little guy" to protect their inventions.

[stogot]

I see you’ve never invented anything that you’ve risked having stolen

[mfuzzey]

"stolen" should not be used in conjunction with IP, "infringed" if you like.

To steal is to deny the original owner access to their property. That is true for physical objects, if I steal your wallet or your car you no longer have it.

But if I illegally copy some of your IP you still have access to it. Sure you may experience some financial prejudice from that but you still have it.

[joquarky]

Agree.

The fact that IP is unnatural and relatively new is probably the reason why so many people can't seem to apply the proper terminology around it.

[piva00]

Japan did the same in the 70s/80s while growing their homegrown tech companies, over time it seems they've been forgiven. In the end we all benefitted with better products from Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Nikon, and many others.

[spixy]

IP and copyrights slow progress, their expiration should be greatly limited

[croes]

Germany did the something similar at the beginning of the 20th century

[BikiniPrince]

Their train industry was built on ripping off companies they forced into poor agreements. They have wrecked industries with technological theft. I suppose it’s lawful from the CCP perspective.

[derf_]

I do not want to claim that two wrongs make a right, but it is funny that you mention "being forced into poor agreements": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unequal_treaties

[BigTTYGothGF]

> forced into poor agreements

Couldn't the poor companies have simply chosen to not do business in China?

[gmerc]

Yes yes, poor western executives forced to sell their IP portfolio and workforce. Those evil chinese. Lol

[quickthrowman]

Probably around the same amount of IP that US citizens stole from the UK in the 19th century. We stole loads of inventions during the Industrial Revolution.

Does it surprise you to find out that a lot of old money families in the US made their money smuggling opium and other similarly unethical things? We are a nation of crooks and thieves and always have been.

I ask anyone reading this comment to please study history more frequently, it will help you understand the world better.

[Qem]

> How many IPs have they stolen from universities and companies across the world?

As it's often said, "There is no honor among thieves":

https://www.nber.org/digest/mar18/confiscation-german-copyri...

[_DeadFred_]

How did the USA end up with the UKs jet engine/radar/other tech? Oh yeah, it was the only way to get the USA's support for the UK during WW2.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tizard_Mission

[lnxg33k1]

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/america-once-stole-ideas-f...

[glemion43]

How many resources did the European and American steal from others?

How many humans were stolen by USA alone?

Does it make it better? No.

But that's it. Everything is shit but while USA got rich through manufacturing in the past, now it's China turn

[bparsons]

Ask every American AI company what they think of IP protections. Apparently all intellectual property is fair game now.

[joquarky]

IP was useful in its time, but it is obsolete in this age.

[yongjik]

Well, I mean, the US is straight up demanding money from its allies (in the form of an "investment agreement" exclusively controlled by the Trump government), and threatening them with economic doom if they don't comply.

Stealing IPs from universities almost look quirky in comparison.

[nicoburns]

They play things according to their own rules, but at least they have some.

[insane_dreamer]

No they don’t. Source: me, lived/worked in China for 6 years. There are two rules: 1) to the strongest (doesn’t matter how you get there, 2) make/keep the right connections (guanxi) that will “apply” regulations to your benefit. Most cut-throat place I’ve ever worked.

[kolbe]

I suppose Rule of Force is still a rule, so you aren't wrong per se

[adastra22]

What rules. China famously flaunts the law everywhere they operate, including in foreign countries.

[frankzinger]

You may have a good point but this shows how badly America's reputation has been damaged: it's now viewed as much worse than China.

[protocolture]

Wasnt hollywood set up simply as a safe space to flog camera patents?

[joquarky]

IP is unnatural and cannot be "stolen".

And thanks to genAI, it will soon be obsolete.

[mindslight]

The Chinese can just request IPs from APNIC too, you know. Or are you referencing the shenanigans with AFRNIC? That still isn't stealing them from companies and universities though. Is there some ongoing mass BGP route hijacking I'm not aware of?

[danny_codes]

Eh, patents are a silly idea to start with. Can’t expect everyone in the world to get onboard with stupid ideas like that

[delta_p_delta_x]

> How many IPs have they stolen

Oh no, the poor trillion-dollar multinationals and multi-billionaires, whatever would they do?

[ta20240528]

Fine, I’ll bite. What exactly did China steal in 2025, who did they steal it from, which authorities did the victims approach in China for redress, where did they report failing to get redress?

You would have to know all the above for it to be real.