4 ms·

Givernment granted monopolies are not property.

• jfengel 5y ago
  Uh... they aren't? They can be bought and sold. A company is a government-granted monopoly on the resources of that company, including its contracts with employees and contracts for services. You can buy and sell that company. Originally, all corporations were government-granted charters, and a lot of that notion is retained. Government manages your monopoly over your real estate -- if somebody tries to use it you're not left to your own devices to defend it. In a sense all property is a government-granted monopoly, including intangible rights. Intellectual property is a special case and you can argue that it shouldn't be included, but to dismiss government grants in the role of property seems to miss a lot about how the law works.
  • michaelmrose 5y ago
    They aren't analogous to physical property. They can trivially be disposed of without any effect on the functioning of physical property. At best they require their own justification.
    • astrange 5y ago
      Physical property is a government-granted right, with the caveat that if they stop enforcing it you can do that yourself with violence. If you stop paying property tax you will eventually lose your property.
      • michaelmrose 5y ago
        Its a government granted resolution to something that absolutely must be resolved one way or the other. We can't both eat the sandwich. IP is a different class of imposition.