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Ethically it simply comes down to giving credit where credit is due. If you discuss a new idea that you have spent time formulating with a co-worker that is go

Ethically it simply comes down to giving credit where credit is due. If you discuss a new idea that you have spent time formulating with a co-worker that is good for the company and the co-worker presents this idea to your common boss as their own and receive a promotion for it, is this ethically wrong?

hxa7241 15y ago
Yes, that is wrong -- it seems covered by the ethics of lying/truth-telling (from Kant, it is contradictory: if lying were a universal rule, it would destroy the possibility of communication in general). But IP is about more than just clear attribution. And clear attribution is not dependent on IP -- we can have it without the other IP features. So a justification of attribution is not sufficient to support IP too.
- SigmundA 15y ago
  You haven't explained how they are different, what is the difference between a co-worker stealing your idea for personal gain and someone else in society doing the same? In IP it's essentially about someone lying to society about the source of the idea. The only difference I see is the organizational entities scope, but the ethic is the same. IP is basically contractualized attribution. Owning an idea as property is simply a societal contract that guarantee's you attribution for your idea.
  - xilun0 15y ago
    you are pretending there is on difference between attribution of ideas and utilisation of ideas. I won't even explain why this is not true.
    - SigmundA 15y ago
      Where did I pretend there is no difference? If in my example the company chooses not to implement the idea, I still deserve credit for the idea correct, not someone else? Perhaps I would not receive a promotion because it was never implemented and proven to be beneficial to the company, but that does not make stealing an idea ethically fine does it, just because it was not utilized? Not bothering to explain is just a cop out.
      - stonemetal 15y ago
        In IP it's essentially about someone lying to society about the source of the idea. Right here. If I print a copy of Lord of the Rings and sell it, and there is no difference between my copy and the official copy. Then there has been no lying to society Tolkien's name is written on the cover an attributed as the author. Full credit for the idea has been given. In your example full credit for authorship was not given.

hxa7241 15y ago

Yes, that is wrong -- it seems covered by the ethics of lying/truth-telling (from Kant, it is contradictory: if lying were a universal rule, it would destroy the possibility of communication in general). But IP is about more than just clear attribution. And clear attribution is not dependent on IP -- we can have it without the other IP features. So a justification of attribution is not sufficient to support IP too.

SigmundA 15y ago
You haven't explained how they are different, what is the difference between a co-worker stealing your idea for personal gain and someone else in society doing the same? In IP it's essentially about someone lying to society about the source of the idea. The only difference I see is the organizational entities scope, but the ethic is the same. IP is basically contractualized attribution. Owning an idea as property is simply a societal contract that guarantee's you attribution for your idea.
- xilun0 15y ago
  you are pretending there is on difference between attribution of ideas and utilisation of ideas. I won't even explain why this is not true.
  - SigmundA 15y ago
    Where did I pretend there is no difference? If in my example the company chooses not to implement the idea, I still deserve credit for the idea correct, not someone else? Perhaps I would not receive a promotion because it was never implemented and proven to be beneficial to the company, but that does not make stealing an idea ethically fine does it, just because it was not utilized? Not bothering to explain is just a cop out.
    - stonemetal 15y ago
      In IP it's essentially about someone lying to society about the source of the idea. Right here. If I print a copy of Lord of the Rings and sell it, and there is no difference between my copy and the official copy. Then there has been no lying to society Tolkien's name is written on the cover an attributed as the author. Full credit for the idea has been given. In your example full credit for authorship was not given.