Richard Stallman has crusaded for truly "free" (as in unencumbered and unrestricted) software for decades now, and has written a ton about the implications of non-free software and how it stifles innovation and restricts personal freedom.

However, the status quo "business thinking" is you need to restrict how your (software) creation can be used, by who and what restrictions must be followed in order to capitalize on the invention. If you can't maintain control, you loose ownership of the invention and any profits that arise from it. IP is an antiquated system that can't exist without the centralized power of The State to arbitrate disputes and favor those which The State deems worthy.

It's tricky to monetize software without IP. Perhaps the problem lies in how people (i.e. venture capitalists) think about software and what they consider valid compensation for producing it. Think of how many inventions would NOT exist today if every widget ever created had IP restrictions. I'm thinking of things like gears, wheels, but the list of common objects we all take for granted and use in our everyday lives would be a lot fewer if the wheel had IP restrictions and was "owned" by some greedy bastard that wanted a monopoly and ALL profits of every device made that used a wheel in its'
design.