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Intellectual property is a farce. Intellectual property is state-sponsored monopoly. Ideas are not property. Reading a book is not theft. Looking at a picture i

Intellectual property is a farce. Intellectual property is state-sponsored monopoly. Ideas are not property. Reading a book is not theft. Looking at a picture is not trespassing. The assertion that we would not have a vibrant economy without intellectual property is historically and factually false. But of course, the response from any defender of non-sensical and arbitrary government intervention is: Not the "right" regulations at the "right" time.

lutusp 14y ago
> Ideas are not property. Reading a book is not theft. You're confused. The two sentences above have no common ground. Reading a book is not theft, but falsely claiming ownership of a book's content certainly is theft.
- Intermernet 14y ago
  Yes, but being inspired to write a similar book is now a grey area. As a some-time composer / musician, I like to play around with existing themes and thus create new themes. Many of history's greatest musical pieces reference other pieces (J.S. Bach referenced traditional church pieces, Mussorgsky referenced many traditional folk songs, the list is probably endless), indeed the vast majority of popular music rarely strays from a handful of progressions around a limited palette of chords. Imagine if someone had managed to patent the 12 bar blues early on... No blues explosion, no Rock & Roll, no Elvis, no Beatles, etc. etc. The argument that patents are for protecting original ideas is becoming more specious with time. It seems that the primary reason many companies now apply for patents is to either protect themselves from future patent cases, or, as is the case with IV, to prosecute any company or individual who tries to bring a similar idea to market.
- throwaway64 14y ago
  Replay from Intermernet who is dead: Yes, but being inspired to write a similar book is now a grey area. As a some-time composer / musician, I like to play around with existing themes and thus create new themes. Many of history's greatest musical pieces reference other pieces (J.S. Bach referenced traditional church pieces, Mussorgsky referenced many traditional folk songs, the list is probably endless), indeed the vast majority of popular music rarely strays from a handful of progressions around a limited palette of chords. Imagine if someone had managed to patent the 12 bar blues early on... No blues explosion, no Rock & Roll, no Elvis, no Beatles, etc. etc. The argument that patents are for protecting original ideas is becoming more specious with time. It seems that the primary reason many companies now apply for patents is to either protect themselves from future patent cases, or, as is the case with IV, to prosecute any company or individual who tries to bring a similar idea to market.
  - Intermernet 14y ago
    "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated"

lutusp 14y ago

> Ideas are not property. Reading a book is not theft. You're confused. The two sentences above have no common ground. Reading a book is not theft, but falsely claiming ownership of a book's content certainly is theft.

Intermernet 14y ago
Yes, but being inspired to write a similar book is now a grey area. As a some-time composer / musician, I like to play around with existing themes and thus create new themes. Many of history's greatest musical pieces reference other pieces (J.S. Bach referenced traditional church pieces, Mussorgsky referenced many traditional folk songs, the list is probably endless), indeed the vast majority of popular music rarely strays from a handful of progressions around a limited palette of chords. Imagine if someone had managed to patent the 12 bar blues early on... No blues explosion, no Rock & Roll, no Elvis, no Beatles, etc. etc. The argument that patents are for protecting original ideas is becoming more specious with time. It seems that the primary reason many companies now apply for patents is to either protect themselves from future patent cases, or, as is the case with IV, to prosecute any company or individual who tries to bring a similar idea to market.
throwaway64 14y ago
Replay from Intermernet who is dead: Yes, but being inspired to write a similar book is now a grey area. As a some-time composer / musician, I like to play around with existing themes and thus create new themes. Many of history's greatest musical pieces reference other pieces (J.S. Bach referenced traditional church pieces, Mussorgsky referenced many traditional folk songs, the list is probably endless), indeed the vast majority of popular music rarely strays from a handful of progressions around a limited palette of chords. Imagine if someone had managed to patent the 12 bar blues early on... No blues explosion, no Rock & Roll, no Elvis, no Beatles, etc. etc. The argument that patents are for protecting original ideas is becoming more specious with time. It seems that the primary reason many companies now apply for patents is to either protect themselves from future patent cases, or, as is the case with IV, to prosecute any company or individual who tries to bring a similar idea to market.
- Intermernet 14y ago
  "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated"