I have often remarked that IP is the weapon that made Microshaft. Gates knew hackers, and made his OS easy to hack, and then pissed them off with the BSA, ensuring they'd pirate his OS in droves. They did. All the apps and tools they used ran on his OS. When the hackers were consulted by Fortune 500 companies, the hackers sure couldn't hack all the OS software the companies needed, but they wanted all their apps and tools to work, so they told the Fortune 500 to buy Microshaft.

Intellectual property rights don't increase innovation and drive competition. They stifle both, and create massive pools of capital in walled gardens of vampires.