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To me, the entire idea of IP is trying to artificially shoehorn the idea of property ownership onto ideas. Physical property is a zero-sum game. For me to mak
by j_baker 16y ago
To me, the entire idea of IP is trying to artificially shoehorn the idea of property ownership onto ideas. Physical property is a zero-sum game. For me to make $20, someone has to lose $20. Intellectual property without patents isn't. If I can make something, then other people can as well. But when you have a patent, it turns into a zero-sum game just like physical property.
- tomjen3 16y agoPhysical property is only a zero sum game if you steal the money. To make twenty dollars you have to create and sell something that is worth more than twenty dollars to the buyer. This is possible because not everyone values things the same. If you have a bread factory you have enough bread that you will value it less than me, who would otherwise go hungry. So yes, you lose a bread and I gain one, but you value the price higher and i value the bread. Who lose?
- praptak 16y agoI believe you are a little overextending GP's statement. Physical property is a zero sum game only in the context of mass and energy preservation. The price tag on a pound of flour and yeast may vary, you may transform it into bread, but you cannot both keep it and sell it.
- tomjen3 16y agoPhysical property is only a zero sum game if you steal the money. To make twenty dollars you have to create and sell something that is worth more than twenty dollars to the buyer. This is possible because not everyone values things the same. If you have a bread factory you have enough bread that you will value it less than me, who would otherwise go hungry. So yes, you lose a bread and I gain one, but you value the price higher and i value the bread. Who lose?