The Pope On Intellectual Property

“Unlike most claims from politicians that intellectual property only provides benefits, (the Vatican) notes that the economic research is ‘contradictory’. “Last year, we noted that in one of the Pope’s speeches, he had expressed concerns about how intellectual property laws were being used to hurt economic development and hold back things like medicines…” A speech last month by the Vatican’s representative to the UN highlights worries by the Vatican about how intellectual property can stifle access to knowledge and economic growth, especially in developing countries. “It’s nice to see at least some folks recognizing that intellectual property creates competing incentives.”