Re: FYI: Final Cloning Position Paper (fwd)

Lee Daniel Crocker (lcrocker@calweb.com)
Wed, 19 Mar 1997 17:59:40 -0800 (PST)


> I would disagree with your concept of property. Inventions, techniques,
> etc. are patented b/c the represent the the intensive work product of an
> individual. To steal this workproduct without the permission of the one
> who truly created it would be tantamount to taking credit for something
> you did not create (plagirism or using a trademark).

Yes, stealing work without permission is a crime; fraudulently claiming
authorship or invetion is a crime; but copyrights and patents aren't
aimed at those actions: they are aimed specifically at preventing, by
force, the use of information legally obtained. If I invent something,
I will keep the idea under wraps with non-disclosure agreements while
it is being developed, and you bet I'd prosecute anyone who broke his
contract or stole from my safe. But if I freely choose to sell the
thing on the open market where anyone can see how it works, I have no
right to have the government use its guns to prevent those folks from
going into business against me.

> Not having a system of protections for these future oriented people
> would give the lazy and oportunistic the right to benefit from the work
> of others - not a very libertarian concept. Besides, patents expire
> (voila IBM clones) giving others the right to benefit from the
> advancement, but also giving the individual(s) their just rewards.

I agree that "a system" should do that. I just disagree that it should
be government force. Private contracts and private technologies work.

-- 
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com>
<http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html>