When I wrote the first “Artificial Scarcity Watch” post, I envisioned it as an occasional feature, highlighting some of the trends that led me to cook up Anti-Star Trek. I think I’m going to have to pace myself, though, because otherwise I’ll spend all my time writing about intellectual property run amok. For instance, this story, about PayPal teaming up with the London police to shut down alleged music piracy websites, is barely worth mentioning.

I saw something else, though, that is too juicy to pass up. The latest episode of This American Life is called “When Patents Attack!,” and NPR’s Planet Money blog also tells the story. It’s a devastating exposé of a company called Intellectual Ventures, and I highly recommend reading it if you feel that your blood pressure is too low or that you need more anger in your life.

Intellectual Ventures is run by Nathan Myhrvold, a former Microsoft executive who is confused about climate change and also has a book about modernist cooking. Malcolm Gladwell had a piece about the company in the New Yorker a few years ago, in which he portrayed IV as a kind of laboratory for innovation, focused on the science of coming up with good new ideas..