The train of examples of absurd applications of modern patent and copyright law is seemingly endless. One that caught my eye is the trademark and copyright infringement suit by comic publisher Marvel (my favorite) over the role-playing video game City of Heroes . The game lets players create the look and abilities of superheroes who battle each
As I’ve noted previously , utilitarian proponents of patent laws favor IP because it “promotes” innovation. But they have no principled reason to oppose setting up a tax funded government commission to “reward” innovators. Intellectual property and its discontents , by Tom Giovanetti, points out that certain activists [... ] want to radically
I recall years back pointing out to a liberal how absurd it was that some federal agencies have lobbyists on staff to promote their agenda and funding.... to Congress. It’s bad enough that we pay taxes to fund the agencies, and Congress, said I, but do we have to fork over additional taxes to pay shills of the federal agencies to try to persuade
Corresponding the other day with a Turkish attorney on a trademark law matter, he informed me: “In the meanwhile, Turkish currency has undergone some change. Six figures of zeros have been dropped for TRL1,000,000 to have the value of YTL1.00 in order to render the transactions practical.” A news item about this reports “Turkey launched a new
I’ve recently posted some links on federalism, Kelo, and related matters. One of them is the 1799 Kentucky Resolution ( 2 ), written by Thomas Jefferson. The meat of the final resolution adopted in 1799 is fairly short, and beautifully eloquent. Take a look at it—it’s not too hard to follow, even with the antiquated, flourishing English. Those who
Lew has a great article today, Regime Libertarians . The timing is appropriate because it helps crystallize some of my own thoughts on this—right at a time when I was discussing with another libertarian his critique of “contrarian” libertarians; I was pointing out that contrarians are not the problem; the problem is mainstream libertarians who go
An interesting piece I have recently scanned in as part of my effort to go paperless: Raico, Ralph, The Fusionists on Liberalism and Tradition , New Individualist Review , v. 3, no. 3, Autumn 1964 See also this piece by Rothbard: Frank S. Meyer: The Fusionist as Libertarian Manqué , Modern Age , Fall 1981, pp.
Re a previous post about Heilbroner—I’ve just found in my files selected pages from Heilbroner’s Between Capitalism and Socialism (1970). See his nauseating remarks about the feasibility of socialism, and his terribly distorted and ignorant caricature of
Law professor and Mises Adjunct Scholar William J. Quirk’s 1995 book, Judicial Dictatorship (with R. Randall Bridwell) is now online (with permission) ( How High The Court? , book review by David Gordon). Although I have some disagreements with the authors, the book is a good resource and study of Jefferson’s views on federalism and judicial
My wife and I, like yuppies we are, signed up for blood cord storage with NECBB when our baby was born a couple years ago. I get a bill every year for the annual storage fee. It’s usually $99. This year I received a letter from NECBB, stating that the fee has increased from $99 to $124 a year, since they were threatened with a patent infringement
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.