re: #185 opnion

While we are talking about copyright laws , how about drug company patents? If you spend your money & labor and make a break through& get approval you get the patent that you deserve for a finite period.
The problem arises when the pharmaceutical company requests & is granted extension after extension. Nobody else can produce it & the price is set high in a monopolistic way.
Obama could make some positive change by addressing issues like this rather than radically destroying the entire system.

Actually, IMHO, unlimited patent protection would result in substantially lower drug prices, as the drug company would not have to recoup it’s R&D expense over an artificially short time period. The patent time clock starts running when the patent is granted; FDA approval usually comes years later.

We should treat the pharmaceutical companies as national treasures, instead of using them as political whipping boys.