Too Long; Didn't Read
A new working paper by the US Patent and Trademark Office shows that online software piracy increases innovation. Authors conclude that piracy motivates software companies to spend more resources on research and development, to stay ahead of the piracy threat and protect their revenue streams. The research looks at the effect of the “piracy shock” that was introduced when BitTorrent was first launched 20 years ago. The then-new file-sharing technology made it much easier to pirate software and was swiftly embraced by millions of people.