[Petronski]

...intellectual property is theft.

I think we can agree about indefinite extensions being contrary to the common good, but if you think 'intellectual property is theft' I suspect you've never created any marketable intellectual property.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I think you knocked that one out of the park.

[Maedhros]

I don't actually think intellectual property is theft; I was simply alluding to the anarchist position regarding real property (with which I disagree), namely, that owning it is theft. My main disagreement with this decision is that it hurts real property rights: by ridiculously extending copyright protection over something essentially vague and ephemeral, i.e., ideas, the concept that real property is sacrosanct is devalued.

As far as my own production of intellectual property, I could care less whether or not it is marketable. Thinking is not a plebiscite, or what some might call a popularity contest.

[bvw]

Theft ... Justice Stevens, in his dissent:

Ex post facto extensions of copyrights result in a gratuitous transfer of wealth from the public to authors, publishers, and their successors in interest.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

I think we can agree about indefinite extensions being contrary to the common good, but if you think 'intellectual property is theft' I suspect you've never created any marketable intellectual property."

Thank you.

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