Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site dciem.UUCP
Path: utzoo!dciem!mmt
From: mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor)
Newsgroups: net.politics.theory
Subject: Re: What is property?
Message-ID: <1494@dciem.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 30-Mar-85 16:38:00 EST
Article-I.D.: dciem.1494
Posted: Sat Mar 30 16:38:00 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 30-Mar-85 18:09:35 EST
References: <370@gargoyle.UChicago.UUCP> <5252@utzoo.UUCP> <4985@ukc.UUCP> <836@ucbtopaz.CC.Berkeley.ARPA> <1853@sdcrdcf.UUCP> <ucbtopaz.85130 Mar 85 21:38:00 GMT
Reply-To: mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor)
Organization: D.C.I.E.M., Toronto, Canada
Lines: 32
Summary: 


>Granted that all libertarian societies respect property rights, that
>still leaves the question of "what is property" open. The practical
>definition is "property is that to which the state grants property
>rights." I find this unsatisfactory <- obvious sarcasm :->. I'm still
>working on a definition of "property" that fits my sense of propriety.
>It seems that if somebody using something doesn't deprive you (even
>temporarily) of the use of the property, then your property rights
>haven't been violated. As pointed out above, not allowing an inheritance
>doesn't violate any property rights. Likewise, the concept of
>"intellectual property" vanishes.
>
>Any comments from the hordes of the net?
>
>        <mike

In England, I was brought up to understand that there was no
trespass without damage.  In other words, if you did no damage
someone's land or belongings, you could go anywhere you liked.
I don't know whether this was or is true, but it seems like an
idea that should go into <mike's definitions of property in a
libertarian state.

As for "intellectual property" it is precisely there that your
"property" IS damaged if someone else uses it, because you can't
sell your gizmo for as much if someone else is using your ideas
to make gizmos that compete with yours.
-- 

Martin Taylor
{allegra,linus,ihnp4,floyd,ubc-vision}!utzoo!dciem!mmt
{uw-beaver,qucis,watmath}!utcsri!dciem!mmt