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> I don't however, believe in the right to restrict what people do with knowledge that's been intentionally and willingly made public. But it's not been made p

> I don't however, believe in the right to restrict what people do with knowledge that's been intentionally and willingly made public. But it's not been made public. It's only available to the group of people that buy the book. As evidence of the fact it's not intended to be public, I cite the fact that the author has sought out legal mechanisms to potentially prosecute those who share what he or she has published. > The words we are using? Invented and given away freely. Even the letters. Even the concepts of words and letters! These computers? They are running on binary notation (330 years old—the 330 is written in Indian-Arabic numerals from over 1k years ago). The current contributions of all our best scientists, engineers, authors, musicians, etc, are trifles compared to the body of work we are building upon. The good news is that intellectual property expires after a while. There is no danger the next binary is going to be patent encumbered. Firstly, because it's likely 'obvious' (although I recognize this has been exploited due to asking patent clerks to go above and beyond the fields they are familiar with) and secondly because it's unlikely to be encumbered for thousands of years.

breck 7y ago
Buy selling a book or work to the public you are making it public. “After a while” now means 90 years after the creator is dead, or something atrocious like that. So that new study on Alzheimer’s that the government paid for with your tax dollars? Yeah, you can’t read that unless you shell out a small fortune (or go to scihub, which most true scientists use and support). People are dying. This is a real serious problem and we need to start changing the wording so people realize it’s not just bad economics to have intellectual monopoly laws, it’s bad morally.
- tathougies 7y ago
  The issue of government funded research is separate. I actually agree with you that it should be available to the public given that public has purchased that right. However the same cannot be said of private endeavors. You are claiming that its okay to take peoples labor to save lives. Taking peoples labor is slavery. Yes it is wrong to do that even to save a life. Pressuring people -- sure. Shaming people -- great. Forcing them at the end of a gun barrel. No.
  - breck 7y ago
    When the janitor cleans the authors home does the janitor then get to charge a royalty to everyone who enters the home?
    - tathougies 7y ago
      Um no. Janitorial service is not intellectual property. It doesn't qualify in any way as a 'secret'. There's no 'secret' or private information being shared. If the Janitor publishes a tell-all story about what went on in the author's home, then yes, he does get to charge everyone who reads it.
      - breck 7y ago
        I appreciate you engaging in the conversation. Thank you for your thoughts. I’m not sure if we’ll come to a consensus at all, but it’s interesting to read your responses. My take is “intellectual property” is a joke of a concept, that is completely arbitrary and has no grounding in the real world (because if you dissect any piece of work, you would find that it “infringes” on the “rights” of the “labor” of countless individuals before). It’s a lie. Plain and simple. Used to benefit the rich and powerful. Intellectual slavery or intellectual monopoly. Those are the true terms here.

breck 7y ago

Buy selling a book or work to the public you are making it public. “After a while” now means 90 years after the creator is dead, or something atrocious like that. So that new study on Alzheimer’s that the government paid for with your tax dollars? Yeah, you can’t read that unless you shell out a small fortune (or go to scihub, which most true scientists use and support). People are dying. This is a real serious problem and we need to start changing the wording so people realize it’s not just bad economics to have intellectual monopoly laws, it’s bad morally.

tathougies 7y ago
The issue of government funded research is separate. I actually agree with you that it should be available to the public given that public has purchased that right. However the same cannot be said of private endeavors. You are claiming that its okay to take peoples labor to save lives. Taking peoples labor is slavery. Yes it is wrong to do that even to save a life. Pressuring people -- sure. Shaming people -- great. Forcing them at the end of a gun barrel. No.
- breck 7y ago
  When the janitor cleans the authors home does the janitor then get to charge a royalty to everyone who enters the home?
  - tathougies 7y ago
    Um no. Janitorial service is not intellectual property. It doesn't qualify in any way as a 'secret'. There's no 'secret' or private information being shared. If the Janitor publishes a tell-all story about what went on in the author's home, then yes, he does get to charge everyone who reads it.
    - breck 7y ago
      I appreciate you engaging in the conversation. Thank you for your thoughts. I’m not sure if we’ll come to a consensus at all, but it’s interesting to read your responses. My take is “intellectual property” is a joke of a concept, that is completely arbitrary and has no grounding in the real world (because if you dissect any piece of work, you would find that it “infringes” on the “rights” of the “labor” of countless individuals before). It’s a lie. Plain and simple. Used to benefit the rich and powerful. Intellectual slavery or intellectual monopoly. Those are the true terms here.