All copyright, patent, trademark stuff aside, what views are there on trade secrets?
For example, lets say that a company tells a scientist: "We will give you all the resources and equipment necessary for you to develope new technology X. However, anything you discover or make here cannot be revealed to any third party."
On the one side, one could argue that what is in the scientists mind is his own and cannot be controlled. On the other hand, however, it seems odd to have a system where, given that the company has put up the money, capital, and land for the research to take place, that the scientist could then just take that idea and sell it off to another company. How could any company ensure that all their capital wouldn't just go to waste and that the scientist wouldn't be bought out by someone else once the discovery is made?
How could trade secrets and agreements of secrecy of this kind work? I remember Rothbard making some comment on it in Ethics of Liberty but I don't remember how detailed it was.
Thanks,
Brutus 2.0
A contract
But that contract would effectively be saying: "The knowledge which you will come to posess regarding technology X, because it was attained using our resources, belongs to us." I wasn't aware you could make a contract controlling the information in someone elses mind.
Brutus 2.0:I wasn't aware you could make a contract controlling the information in someone elses mind.
It's not. It's a contract based on control of certain actions, not ideas. Such as the act of disseminating an idea. Such as the act of signing over any right to future claims on the idea.
You need to bone up on contracts, they are the structure of a free market, laissez-faire economy.
If you find something evil that wobbles, push it. - Gary North
Good point. That does seem like the clear answer.
Just one point to clarify. Since, in order to violate a contract, someone's property must be violated (i.e. I don't give you the interest on your loan, which is technically your property, thus violating the loan agreement), what property is being violated if the scientist ends up selling his information to a rival company? Since information cannot be property, what property of the original company is being abused here?
The salary they paid him/her, if it was conditional on fulfilling the terms of the contract.
To darkness I condemn you...
Brutus 2.0:Just one point to clarify. Since, in order to violate a contract, someone's property must be violated
Why? Part of a employment contract may include how one acts in public or what time one goes to bed or what physical activities one does on one's own time (think pro athletes).
Brutus 2.0:in order to violate a contract, someone's property must be violated
No, violating a contract is violating someone's property. Any contract worth anything must specify damages and the condition upon which those damages will be awarded. Once the conditions for awarding the damages have been fulfilled, the damages are the property of the injured party. The contract violator is aggressing against the injured party's property (damages) by virtue of fulfilling the conditions upon which the damages are to be awarded but not paying the damages.
Edited to add: I just had a thought... this illustration could be a reason why there might exist prisons in a libertarian society. If I'm a college grad in physics, I am poor, and there is nothing I have of sufficient value to a large cap corporation to motivate them to trust me with millions of dollars of their capital which they have invested in order to generate very large revenues with the results of my research which, if I go public with, would reduce the return on their investment immensely. However, there is one thing that is extremely valuable to me and that is my time. If I agree to give up a portion of my life (prison) if I violate the terms of the NDA, the corporation can find that to be a good reason to write a contract with me wherein I agree, on penalty of X years in prison, not to disclose XYZ information that I generated during my tenure with the company.
Just a thought. :p
Clayton -
Guys, let us listen to Rothbard, he talks about it:
http://mises.org/rothbard/ethics/nineteen.asp
Brutus 2.0: How could trade secrets and agreements of secrecy of this kind work?
Actually, it really is not that simple. You have to also find a protection agency that is willing to offer that defense. In a truly free market, they may not exist. Be practical: imagine you are a lawyer and you have to prove that somebody disseminated an idea. That is not an easy feat.
In my opinion, proving such a violation is close to impossible and so, in a truly free market, nobody would bother expecting anybody to sign such contracts. Only time will tell.
Charles Anthony: Brutus 2.0: How could trade secrets and agreements of secrecy of this kind work? You have to pay the premiums charged by the protection agency to defend your contract from any violations. Simple as that. Actually, it really is not that simple. You have to also find a protection agency that is willing to offer that defense. In a truly free market, they may not exist. Be practical: imagine you are a lawyer and you have to prove that somebody disseminated an idea. That is not an easy feat. In my opinion, proving such a violation is close to impossible and so, in a truly free market, nobody would bother expecting anybody to sign such contracts. Only time will tell.
I disagree - dissemination of an information that a company had invested significant capital into developing could be probable cause for investigating the parties to NDAs who had access to that information. There are usually objective traces left behind when information transfer occurs... old emails, chat logs, even slack space on hard drives, etc. I think that such contracts would be very enforceable and would be a proper foundation for what is called "IP" in today's world.
ClaytonB: There are usually objective traces left behind when information transfer occurs... old emails, chat logs, even slack space on hard drives, etc. I think that such contracts would be very enforceable and would be a proper foundation for what is called "IP" in today's world.
In Libertariania, you are not going to have the strong arm of the FBI at your disposal. Without the infrastructure of the state, I just think the market will favor industries that do not bother protecting trade secrets. That is just me.
Charles Anthony: ClaytonB: There are usually objective traces left behind when information transfer occurs... old emails, chat logs, even slack space on hard drives, etc. I think that such contracts would be very enforceable and would be a proper foundation for what is called "IP" in today's world. Sure but you are going to have to pay for tracking all of that down. In Libertariania, you are not going to have the strong arm of the FBI at your disposal.
In Libertariania, you are not going to have the strong arm of the FBI at your disposal.
Yep, so "implicit NDAs" on CDs and DVDs would simply be a joke.
Without the infrastructure of the state, I just think the market will favor industries that do not bother protecting trade secrets. That is just me.
I think it depends on capitalization. I work for Intel and I can assure you that they could afford to pay people to investigate and prosecute violations of NDAs if they had to finance their own NDA-enforcement instead of having it given to them for free on the backs of the taxpayers under our modern corporate-welfare state.
ClaytonB: I think it depends on capitalization. I work for Intel and I can assure you that they could afford to pay people to investigate and prosecute violations of NDAs if they had to finance their own NDA-enforcement instead of having it given to them for free on the backs of the taxpayers under our modern corporate-welfare state.
Currently, Intel is the beneficiary of statist IP laws. It makes no sense to assume that Intel's current business and profit structure would be the same in Libertariania.
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