X-Loop: openpgp.net
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Now you're ready for a lesson in communism/capitalism -
> the big difference between these two systems is how they regard property
> rights - simply put, capitalism recognizes individual right to hold
property,
> and communism doesn't ..
Yeah, the only mistake is that you're claiming to own someone else's
property (hard-drive, files, stuff). The fact that it says something about
you is of no significance. Here, in this message (which is copied to my
"Sent" folder) I have your email address. Does that mean that you have
somehow acquired property rights over (a small part of) my hard-drive? Why?
> what I'm advocating is the "privatization" of personal information.
Oh, you're in the "IP" gang. I don't like IP (intellectual property). I'm as
anti-IP as one could get. If I want something to be a secret, I keep it
secret; otherwise, once it got into YOUR mind, claiming that I own YOUR mind
would be stupid. [Don't tell me that you keeping information on your
hard-drive, or on a piece of paper, is different than keeping that
information in your mind - it's not.]
> I'm
> advocating that personally identifying information be regarded as the
"property"
> of the bundle of carbon atoms to whom it belongs..
Which is good. The only problem is that it doesn't BELONG to you - it just
TALKS about you.
> (this is not the current
> status quo, online or offline) the greatest prosperity in human history
> has been created when private people and organizations can order their
affairs
> using private property and contract law -- last time I checked, anybody
> who advocates the "privatization" of anything is a capitalist, not a
communist
Not when the "anything" is something that doesn't belong to him...
> This IS communism
> (in so far as IP rights are not protected like ordinary property rights
> are), and it is at the heart of the Constitution...
IP rights are artificial rights. There is no natural scarcity in
information. Rights are only useful when we have scarcity. I can't use this
car at the same time as you do, so it makes sense for one of us to own it.
But I can use your name at the same time you do, and you don't lose anything
by my use of your name (or anything else), except maybe for "potential
revenue". But nobody has the right to the value of something - otherwise one
could prevent solar-powered cars because it decreases the value of oil
refineries.
Mark
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