Patent system

 I think many of us have heard bits about our intellectual property laws being broken and hurting artistic and scientific advancement.  This American Life had a show recently on software patents (click here to listen to it).  It talked about how patents are granted even when the subject is in "prior art" (that it exists in use already) and how companies are amassing patents, not to use to make things but to use as a defense to other patent attacks.  A company like Apple sues an android phone maker and that company sues back (also for patent violations).  Both have piles of patents.   Such cases usually settle with both companies paying royalties.  This is counter-productive.  Some companies cannot afford to buy patents for their defense or for the litigation costs.  Startups can be killed by a large company hitting them when they're small.  Big companies, like Google or Microsoft, spend many billions on patents for things they will not be building but to use as a defense.  That money should have went into product research or just product production.  It is a gross waste in our system for businesses.  It stifles creativity.  And then we have these record or movie companies suing people, sometimes an adult who didn't know what their kids were doing, for sharing files.  None of the proceeds go to the artists but to companies like the Software Piracy Association (a company that just exists to send demand letters and sue) or the production company.  We are wasting tens of billions of dollars or more on these fights which hinder intellectual advances and fail to profit the people that innovate.