[pp.int.general] map of intellectual property rights in lund

[Reinier Bakels]

Some aspects should not be confused:
1. Some goods are "non-rivalrous", as it is called in economic. That is besically what you are referring to.
2. A fundamental principle of criminal law that it shoud define crimes precisely and in advance (that is actually a human right). Theft statutory provisions typically refer to tangible objects only. Even the punishment of the theft of electricity (though non-non-rivalruous) violates this principle in NL (not in DE, I don't know about the US).

The risk is that infringement of all (even non-rivalrous) goods is treated as theft. The confusion about the apparently generic "intellectual property" concept exacerbates this confusion (= often deliberate deceit). That is why it is such a bad concept. Taking someone elses "intellectual property" is not theft, and perhaps it is not even infrigement because only "intellectual property" is protected that is explicitly defined in statutes ("works", inventions, trademarks).

Educated people know the art of generalisation. generalisation is a mistake here.

reinier 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Edison Carter 
  To: Pirate Parties International -- General Talk 
  Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2009 9:01 PM
  Subject: Re: [pp.int.general] map of intellectual property rights in lund




    Another problem is the gradual extension of the Theft concept in criminal law. Originally one could steal only real things. One can also steal electricity (it is even codified in German law, and in my country it was recognised by the Supreme Court in 1921). The proper word for intellectual property has always been: infringement - but why not call it theft too? Record company lobbyists (RIAA, IFPI) already do. Criminal provisions for fencing already apply e.g. to copyright.



  I tend to use the distinction between limited and unlimited goods.

  If I take a car that's theft, because there is only one car and my taking it deprives the owner.

  If I take electricity without paying for it I am using up some limited generating capacity. The same electricity (some number of kWh) cannot be sold to another customer because I used it. I can accept that being called 'theft' too.

  Even if I take up the time of an accountant or lawyer and then don't pay their bill, that is a number of hours from their working week that they cannot sell to another client. 

  However if I copy a CD, I have taken nothing. The original recording is not affected in any way. The songwriter, recording artist or anyone else in the music industry were not inconvenienced at all. At most they may have lost a sale but this is no different that if I had chosen to buy someone else's CD, listen to something in the public domain instead, or go for a walk in the park instead of listening to music.

   
    Some people don't understand that information is really something very different than material goods. There is a law of conservation of matter (mass), but no law of conservation of information (I am referring to laws of physics here, of course!)



  I might divide this further into three categories;
    Limited tangible items such as cars, handbags, or televisions. Or physical objects such as polycarbonate disks containing information.
    Limited intangible things such as 'time' or 'capacity' (Artist's time for interviews and performing, number of seats in a venue, etc)
    Infinitely reproducible 'information' such as the contents of a DVD or CD, or the number of receivers that can tune into a single broadcast signal.




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