More welfare for billionaires

[BugI02]

Dave the guys who wrote that book are economists and are making an economic utilitarian argument because that is the argument that will most likely convince their peers.

You have a strong moral belief that ip is similar to tangible property and that people who steal ip are committing a crime.

I do not believe that ip is any thing like tangible property and thus theft does not apply. They very well might be commiting fraud or some other crime and those should be prosecuted. I also think that they may be commiting some sort of moral wrong depending on the case but not everything that I think is immoral should be illegal.

I do not know how to make a moral argument that copying an idea is not immoral other than what Steve has already said.

The less exact the copy, the more I could get on board with this. At the level of, say, Subaru makes a vehicle with all wheel drive and another manufacturer adds that capability to (some of) their vehicles or Boeing makes a highly efficient long haul aircraft with a high percentage of composite material and other competitors strive to match its capabilities - Fine. If, however, competitors reverse engineer either product and field exact copies of these products, have they not just 'stolen' the value of all the research and development that went into said product. If they don't sell that copied product as a Subaru or a Boeing they have not committed fraud. You mention '... or some other crime and those should be prosecuted.' but without patent and copyright law I don't see any basis under which someone could be prosecuted.