51 sats \ 2 replies \ @kepford 14 Dec 2023 \ on: Public goods are not what we're told they are libertarian
Dang, you really hit on something here. Language can both clarify our understanding of the world and cloud it. The propaganda by and about the state clouds our understanding. I try to replace "public" with government or state when in conversations because as you say these things are not truly public. That is literally a lie we are told over and over. It is beat over our heads so much that most just accept it.
I hadn't really thought about information being public though. I think I agree. When you go down the trail of thought about what is private and what is not you will get to property. You get to who controls a property vs. who supposedly owns it. Control is where its at. I can think I own something but if I can't control it do I truly own it?
You can't really control information once it leaves your mind. Information is not scarce. It is not tangible. States and Kings have created a construct. A lie called intellectual property. We know it isn't really property because they had to add the world intellectual in front. So they at least admit it is different from what we have understood property to be for thousands of years.
The idea that you can own an idea, a word, a song, a line of code, or a recipe is ridiculous on its face. Its a construct backed by the threat of violence. That's all IP is. Information is public. Its truly public in that as soon as it is shared you no longer control it. Bitcoin is public. It was private before Satoshi wrote down his ideas.
Thanks for giving me a new angle to think about these things.
You're welcome, but these ideas are not really that new.
Yes, IP rights contradict normal property rights. If I own a printed copy of a book, I'm free to do whatever I want with it; in particular, to read it aloud in front of an audience or copy it.
If I obtained the book under the condition I wouldn't reproduce it, and signed a contract, that's a different story though - because I'd be breaching the contract. But once I've done it and shared as e.g. as a torrent, those who download it can do whatever they want with it, because they're not bound by a contract.
The unenforceability of such contracts in some common scenarios is yet another story...
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Yep. In a world where taxation is not considered theft the meanings of words are suspect.
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