>To claim that any result of human effort can be taken by force away
>from that person without his consent and given to others is to enslave
>that person. Period. And all the "public good" phrases and other half-rotted
>heaps of left-wing verbal horseshit that gets piled in reeking tons over that
>basic concept doesn't change a thing.

I would take the opposite tack with intellectual property -- the grant of a patent to someone allows them to stifle the innovation of other people that were just minding their own business, working hard to make good products. That is using government force against an individual. Someone else using an idea without your consent is naturally what happens to ideas without institutionalized restrictions.

I would much, much rather have someone "steal" one of my ideas, than have someone tell me that I can't use an idea because they hold a patent on it.

I am currently being harassed by a couple patent holders that claim that some of the work that I have done infringes on their patents, and I should pay them Lots Of Money. They were never able to make a product with their patents, and nobody had ever heard of them, but they can use the threat of dragging us into court to attempt to extort money from our success. That is one of the most parasitic things I can think of.

John Carmack
www.armadilloaerospace.com (and www.idsoftware.com)