Ron Paul campaign: I favor enforcement of intellectual property rights; however, some of the steps taken to protect these rights impose unreasonable burdens on the consumers and even raise civil liberties concerns. As president, I will seek a balance between the interest of copyright holders and consumers of digital media.
Ron Paul campaign: Patents have a role to play in encouraging innovation. While I do not have a plan for patent reform yet, I would want to work with Congress to make sure that the US patent system encourages and rewards innovation. Making sure the patent system is fair to small business and entrepreneurs, rewards the actual inventors of a product, and does not tilt the playing field to large corporations will be a priority in my administration’s approach to patent law.
Excellent thread. I always thought this was the most glaring omission from his newest book. There was absolutely nothing on it.
I do, however, know that he would never vote for the protect IP act and he’s against the pro-Patent WTO. Also, in Liberty Defined, he did say that Constitution had imperfections and practically said that the Articles of Confederation would’ve been better.
In any event, I’m sure that he favors abolishing it, and that he views it as a form of corporate welfare.
I’m pretty sure I’ve heard him advocate things similar to Rothbard. I’m sure that digital media would fall under Rothbard’s look at the free rider in M,E,& S. It’s a function of super-abundance and to be looked at as a good thing. Paul probably means that he will enforce patent rights for machine production and stuff.
Also, There are counterfeit PS3 controllers coming out of China. I’ll find a link. So we have a reason why Brand names encourage fraudulent production. Cheap competitors can ride on the back of brand name success.
Bear in mind that IP is a contentious issue within Austrian circles. Hoppe has doggedly defended IP but it is my understanding he may be having second thoughts just in the last couple of years. So, I wouldn’t hold it against RP if he’s on the wrong side of this issue. It’s a minor point by comparison to ending the central banking system.
I wish i wasn’t in this fiction class so i could read some Hoppe.
Alan Moore, Watchmen, V 4 V, etc. (awesome author) make’s the point that Moore’s law will cause an ‘information flashpoint’ that will cause society to disintigrate. Scary, but the anti-ip people, disclosure people, and wikileaks, are helping to bring this day (2015ish..? dun dun dun) closer. I wonder which cliff we’ll run over first.
Kinsella has written that he was a bit embarrassed to discover than Hoppe had already put forth the core notions he outlines in his own work, years before. (I’ll have to search to find that piece). And he cites Hoppe’s 1989 treatise throughout Against Intellectual Property. So I’d really like to see where Hoppe “doggedly defended IP”.
@John James: Crap, I’m looking for a source on that and it appears I’m completely off base. I could swear I had read something by Hoppe that defended IP rights but apparently I’m completely mistaken. Anyway, there are Austrians who defend IP rights, of that I’m sure. If required, I can scare up an example later.
No, of course I’m well aware there are plenty libertarians who are under the impression IP is actual property and therefore IP laws are justified. (Possibly even more than those who disagree). Kinsella almost always addresses this fact. But Hoppe is certainly not one of them.
The 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s section restricting the “circumvention” of copy protection measures is supported by many copyright holders but has been criticized by some technologists as hindering innovation. Would you support changing the DMCA to permit Americans to make a single backup copy of a DVD, Blu-ray Disc DVD, HD DVD, or video game disc they have legally purchased?
Paul: While I have not yet made a full study of this issue, I would tend to protect the rights of consumers to make a backup copy of materials they have purchased, as long as the consumers complied with any contractual obligations they incurred when purchasing the product. Source: cnet
Considering this was all back in 2008. 4 years ago, largely before the ‘boom’ of interest in Intellectual property as an issue within libertarian circles… primairly because of the growth in the internet & 2.0.