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Intellectual property rights are fundamentally not "good ol' property rights". Property rights exist because when you steal someone's car, you're depriving them

Intellectual property rights are fundamentally not "good ol' property rights". Property rights exist because when you steal someone's car, you're depriving them of the usage of that car. If you steal the words from somebody's book, you're not preventing them from still reading it. In fact enforcement of intellectual property laws actually violates traditional property rights, as it interferes with people using their hardware property freely.

wahnfrieden 3y ago
both are decisions to honor/build a society around and the police will defend both. it’s historically and today continues to be their essential purpose the property i'm talking about is more specifically 'means of production' type property, not someone's left shoe
dragonwriter 3y ago
> Property rights exist because when you steal someone’s car, you’re depriving them of the usage of that car. No, property rights exist because of a social value judgement that their existence is a net benefit. The particular structure of some aspects enforcing property rights in one class of property (tangible personal property) reflect that. (Mostly, in the Anglo-American system, this is addressed by the theft and conversion crimes and torts.) But the other main class of tangible property (real property) doesn’t really have the same nature, nor do most other elements of the broad class of intangible personal property, and the primary means of enforcing them against encroachment tend to be oriented around trespass (in common law terms, though there are special terms for it for some specific subtypes of property, such as as “infringement” for most IP rights) rather than theft/conversion, which also applies to tangible personal property (trespass to chattels).
- deleted 3y ago
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- Ferret7446 3y ago
  Property rights exist due to the laws of physics allowing them to be enforced. If you physically possess a car, you can use it, and if someone steals it, the police can go physically take it away from them and return it to you. You can't meaningfully enforce intellectual property rights in the general case. If someone learns the secret KFC recipe, you can't take it away from them.

wahnfrieden 3y ago

both are decisions to honor/build a society around and the police will defend both. it’s historically and today continues to be their essential purpose the property i'm talking about is more specifically 'means of production' type property, not someone's left shoe

dragonwriter 3y ago

> Property rights exist because when you steal someone’s car, you’re depriving them of the usage of that car. No, property rights exist because of a social value judgement that their existence is a net benefit. The particular structure of some aspects enforcing property rights in one class of property (tangible personal property) reflect that. (Mostly, in the Anglo-American system, this is addressed by the theft and conversion crimes and torts.) But the other main class of tangible property (real property) doesn’t really have the same nature, nor do most other elements of the broad class of intangible personal property, and the primary means of enforcing them against encroachment tend to be oriented around trespass (in common law terms, though there are special terms for it for some specific subtypes of property, such as as “infringement” for most IP rights) rather than theft/conversion, which also applies to tangible personal property (trespass to chattels).

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
Ferret7446 3y ago
Property rights exist due to the laws of physics allowing them to be enforced. If you physically possess a car, you can use it, and if someone steals it, the police can go physically take it away from them and return it to you. You can't meaningfully enforce intellectual property rights in the general case. If someone learns the secret KFC recipe, you can't take it away from them.