Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 429.

A facebook friend from Brazil, Bruno Pires, corresponded with me about some various issues and we decided to discuss it for a podcast episode. We discuss a variety of issues.

See his promoted VPN sponsor Aria VPN.

https://youtu.be/a8YdkT2_Tec

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 428.

I was a guest on Episode 316 of The Bob Murphy Show, entitled “Stephan Kinsella on Rothbard’s Contributions to Legal Theory." Bob's shownotes: "Stephan joins Bob to discuss his new book, Legal Foundations of a Free Society. They cover Rothbard’s contributions to legal theory, as well as Bob and Stephan’s differing entry points into libertarianism."

https://youtu.be/iWx8DKMwk30?si=54KjWm_BndPX4a_e

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 427.

Yesterday (April 10, 2024) I participated in Strings Attached: Tracing the Global Systems that Bind, 62nd Annual International Affairs Symposium, Lewis & Clark College, Portland Oregon, Debate 5: Pirates and Patents. Debate Topic: Is international intellectual property regulation a necessary protection for innovators or a form of modern imperialism?

My opponent was Pieter Cleppe. My notes are appended below.

https://youtu.be/f_cpqc-oHd0

We got along well and had a nice dinner after the debate.

(Unofficial iphone Audio (mp3))

Strings Attached: Tracing the Global Systems that Bind.

62nd Annual International Affairs Symposium

Debate 5: Pirates and Patents.

Debate Topic: Is international intellectual property regulation a necessary protection for innovators or a form of modern imperialism?

Lewis & Clark College, Portland Oregon

April 10, 2024

Stephan Kinsella

 

Debate Topic: Is international intellectual property regulation a necessary protection for innovators or a form of modern imperialism?

“Patents, copyrights, trademarks, etc, are intangible legal protections that allow creators to monopolize the distribution of their ideas. The international system managing these rights is often praised for promoting and protecting innovation. However, it raises the costs of acquiring new technologies, life-saving medicines, and access to knowledge for developing states. How should international intellectual property standards balance these competing interests?”

 

Introduction

I am a practicing patent and intellectual property, or IP, attorney for 30 years and a libertarian for even longer than that.

At the dawn of my career, after many years of research and thought, I came to the conclusion that all forms of IP law are completely unjust.

This perspective will inform my remarks today.

 

Notice my opponent’s remarks were not systematic and did not carefully define the relevant terms.

In fact his arguments rested on two false assumptions: that patent and copyright increase innovation, and that IP law is therefore justified.

 

Imperialism and IP

What is imperialism? Imperialism: “a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force.”

“Imperialism is when a country extends its power into other territories for economic or political gain.”

Now, IP law is prevalent in the west: patent, copyright, trademark, and other forms.

There can be little doubt that the west, especially the United States, has used its influence and power to push or even coerce other countries to adopt US-style IP law, primarily patent and copyright

This is done sometimes by direct imposition or, more usually, by softer forms of coercion such as investment and free trade agreements or other international treaties

Direct imposition/coercion:

for example the US expanded Iraqi patent law by decree in 2004, by order of Paul Bremer, the “Administrator” of the “Coalition Provisional Authority”

German constitution, or “Basic Law,” 1949, under US domination: Article 96 authorizes the establishment by federal law of the Federal Patent Court

Example below: under pressures from the west, the Thai government specifically undertook not to implement Article 8 (on compulsory licensing) for HIV/AIDS treatment

Treaties: The Berne Convention already requires member states to have a minimum copyright term of life of the author plus 50 years; the US has added 20 years to this(life plus 70)

Treaties such as the Paris Convention and Patent Cooperation Treaty require member states to maintain certain minimum patent protections

The US uses its dominant position to force other countries or regions to adopt US-style IP policies via “free trade” agreements and others like Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs)

2500 BITs in the world today, many US-sponsored

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 426.

Related:

On "Unowned" State Property, Legal Positivism, Ownership vs. Possession, Immigration, Public Roads, and the Bum in the Library

Adam Haman and Matt Sands on Immigration, Property Rights, and Hostile Encirclement

Libertarian Answer Man: Homesteading Donuts, Hostile Encirclement, and Prostitution as Selling One’s Body

A Tour Through Walter Block’s Oeuvre

Matthew Sands of the Nations of Sanity project, which aims to promote the Non-Aggression Principle as a universal peace agreement, and I discussed various issues including: immigration and open borders, and so on.

(See previous episode with Matthew, KOL372 | Discussing Contract Theory, Restitution, Punishment, with Matthew Sands of Nations of Sanity and KOL362 | California Gold #6, with Matt Sands: Defining Libertarianism, Anarchism and Voluntaryism.)

https://youtu.be/zXKxc8QxqKo

Related links:

Switzerland, Immigration, Hoppe, Raico, Callahan

A Simple Libertarian Argument Against Unrestricted Immigration and Open Borders, LewRockwell.com, September 1, 2005

Van Dun on Freedom versus Property and Hostile Encirclement

Libertarian Answer Man: Homesteading Donuts, Hostile Encirclement, and Prostitution as Selling One’s Body

From Grok:

Here are the updated show notes for the podcast episode at https://stephankinsella.com/as_paf_podcast/kol426-immigration-homesteading-donuts-sands/, incorporating additional details about the discussion on forestalling and hostile encirclement, as informed by the provided posts and the YouTube transcript:

Show Notes: KOL426 | Immigration, Homesteading, Donuts, SandsIn this episode of the Stephan Kinsella on Liberty podcast, libertarian legal theorist Stephan Kinsella engages in a detailed, two-hour discussion with Matthew Sands, who runs the Nations of Sanity project, focusing on libertarian principles surrounding property rights, homesteading, immigration, and the contentious concepts of forestalling and hostile encirclement. The conversation delves into the nuances of libertarian philosophy, particularly self-ownership, the non-aggression principle (NAP), and their application to practical issues like borders, access to unowned resources, and the theoretical "donut homesteading" scenario.Introduction and Background

Matthew Sands introduces his Nations of Sanity project, which is grounded in defining law and crime through individual self-ownership as a basis for peaceful agreements.

The discussion originates from a debate about immigration and borders, evolving into a broader exploration of property rights, specifically addressing the "donut homesteading" scenario—where a property owner surrounds an unowned or owned piece of land, potentially restricting access to it—and the related concepts of forestalling and hostile encirclement.

Immigration and Libertarian Principles

Kinsella outlines the libertarian immigration debate, noting the traditional "open borders" stance among some libertarians, who argue that the state, being illegitimate, has no right to restrict movement. However, he highlights a shift in the 1990s and 2000s, led by figures like Hans-Hermann Hoppe and Murray Rothbard, who questioned open borders due to practical and cultural concerns, such as welfare state externalities and forced integration.

Kinsella clarifies he is not anti-immigration but argues that denying outsiders access to public roads—legally controlled by the government but rightfully owned by taxpayers—does not inherently violate their rights. Sands counters that while property owners can exclude others from their land, actively preventing access to unowned resources (e.g., wilderness areas like the Grand Canyon) through measures like border walls constitutes a violation of libertarian principles.

Donut Homesteading, Forestalling, and Hostile Encirclement

The "donut homesteading" scenario, inspired by Walter Block’s “Blockean Proviso” and...

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 426.

Matthew Sands of the Nations of Sanity project, which aims to promote the Non-Aggression Principle as a universal peace agreement, and I discussed various issues including: immigration and open borders, and so on.

(See previous episode with Matthew, KOL372 | Discussing Contract Theory, Restitution, Punishment, with Matthew Sands of Nations of Sanity and KOL362 | California Gold #6, with Matt Sands: Defining Libertarianism, Anarchism and Voluntaryism.)

https://youtu.be/zXKxc8QxqKo

Related links:

Switzerland, Immigration, Hoppe, Raico, Callahan

A Simple Libertarian Argument Against Unrestricted Immigration and Open Borders, LewRockwell.com, September 1, 2005

Van Dun on Freedom versus Property and Hostile Encirclement

Libertarian Answer Man: Homesteading Donuts, Hostile Encirclement, and Prostitution as Selling One’s Body

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 425.

From Adam Haman's show Haman Nature, Ep. 4. Released Feb. 15, 2024.

From Adam's shownotes:

Adam gets all intellectual and stuff with Stephan Kinsella. Part two of this interview explains why the concept of "intellectual" property is illegitimate and impedes humanity's progress. [Previous episode: KOL423 | Haman Nature Ep. 1: Getting Argumentative.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vpTQHLw_kc

Update: See the response/commentary video:

https://youtu.be/k23t_8cUSmA?si=ImRcLsE7YB-dKWBj

00:00 – Intro

01:15 – Introducing two amazing books: Stephan's Against Intellectual Property and Against Intellectual Monopoly by Boldrin and Levine. Then Stephan touches on many aspects of the philosophical and consequential aspects of intellectual property laws. The dude goes all over the place! There's no stopping him! He knows so much!

26:38 -- Outro

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 424.

This is my appearance on Robert Breedlove’s What Is Money podcast  (WiM430; Youtube channel; recorded Feb. 2, 2024; released Feb. 15, 2024). This one is independent of the “Stephan Kinsella Series” as it is about my own new book, instead of focusing on Hoppe's work.

Episode Summary: Stephan Kinsella joins me to discuss his book, Legal Foundations of a Free Society. We talk about the concept of self-ownership, the classification of rights, the significance of contracts, and the state monopoly.

// OUTLINE //

00:00:00 - Coming up

00:00:21 - Intro

00:01:54 - Helping Lightning Startups with In Wolf's Clothing

00:02:41 - Introducing Stephan Kinsella

00:03:39 - The Concept of Self-Ownership

00:07:45 - Classification of Rights

00:10:25 - Defining Liberty

00:13:18 - The Non-Aggression Axiom

00:16:23 - Understanding the Nuances of Intellectual Property Rights

00:22:14 - The Right to Exclude

00:26:00 - The Rules of Ownership

00:30:21 - Finding Objective Link to Prevent Conflict

00:33:22 - The Right to Self-Ownership

00:38:50 - Transformation of Libertinism

00:42:05 - Run Your Business from Anywhere with NetSuite

00:43:10 - Secure Your Bitcoin Stash with the iCoin Hardware Wallet

00:44:20 - The Right to Self-Defense

00:47:00 - Self-Ownership and Slavery

00:49:29 - Violation of Contracts

00:54:47 - Contract: Independent Title Transfer

00:56:51 - Terms of the Contract

01:02:11 - Loan and Repayment

01:06:00 - Enhance Your Brain Power with Mind Lab Pro

01:07:06 - Take Control of Your Healthcare with CrowdHealth

01:08:13 - Purpose of Political System

01:15:01 - The State Monopoly

01:20:30 - Where to Find Stephan on the Internet

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 423.

My appearance as the first guess on Adam Haman's new podcast and Youtube channel, Haman Nature (Haman Nature substack).

As I noted in the initial discussion, this is the fourth or fifth podcast for which I was the first guest, the others being KOL374 | The Intellectual Contributions of Hans-Hermann Hoppe: The Great Fiction Podcast Ep. 1, KOL078 | Lions of Liberty Podcast Inaugural Episode: Intellectual Property, KOL244 | “YOUR WELCOME” with Michael Malice Ep. 001: Intellectual Property, Prostate Cancer, and KOL347 | This Time I’m Curious Ep. 1: The Libertarian Movement, AI Rights, UFOs, Music, Movies, Alcohol.

Shownotes:

Adam and Stephen discuss argumentation ethics which of course means they also talk about museums. Part 1 of a 2 episode interview.

https://youtu.be/00MQjVoHgYI?si=yGoO7GfLW1EFx2X6

Time marks:

00:00 – Intro

2:50 – Remembering PorcFest 2023 and fun with the creature from Bretton Woods.

5:52 – Introducing Stephan's new book: Legal Foundations of a Free Society.

7:00 – Libertarianism in America, then and now.

9:35 – With the change in the way we consume information, is intellectualism dead?

13:58 – The origins of this book: activism vs. preaching to the remnant. The value of engaging these ideas deeply to maximize credibility and effectiveness.

18:40 – From Marx to Rothbard: People who care about ideas are reachable and teachable.

20:17 – Exploring argumentation ethics. To understand liberty, we must understand property.

29:13 – Oh crap! Does Elon Musk own us?

29:31 – Back to argumentation ethics. Is v. ought. Natural order arguments.

35:31 -- A very brief discussion of Michael Huemer and intuitionism.

37:23 -- Five blind men describing an elephant - all roads lead to liberty.

40:30 -- Outro

Part 2: KOL425 | Haman Nature: Stephan Kinsella dismantles “intellectual” property

Reaction video (Haman Nature Ep. 6):

https://youtu.be/k23t_8cUSmA?si=alkIp3G0jolbLp4f

Pix of Adam, me and others at Bretton Woods at PorcFest 2023...

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 423.

My appearance as the first guess on Adam Haman's new podcast and Youtube channel, Haman Nature (Haman Nature substack).

As I noted in the initial discussion, this is the fourth or fifth podcast for which I was the first guest, the others being KOL374 | The Intellectual Contributions of Hans-Hermann Hoppe: The Great Fiction Podcast Ep. 1, KOL078 | Lions of Liberty Podcast Inaugural Episode: Intellectual Property, KOL244 | “YOUR WELCOME” with Michael Malice Ep. 001: Intellectual Property, Prostate Cancer, and KOL347 | This Time I’m Curious Ep. 1: The Libertarian Movement, AI Rights, UFOs, Music, Movies, Alcohol.

Shownotes:

Adam and Stephen discuss argumentation ethics which of course means they also talk about museums. Part 1 of a 2 episode interview.

https://youtu.be/00MQjVoHgYI?si=yGoO7GfLW1EFx2X6

Time marks:

00:00 – Intro

2:50 – Remembering PorcFest 2023 and fun with the creature from Bretton Woods.

5:52 – Introducing Stephan's new book: Legal Foundations of a Free Society.

7:00 – Libertarianism in America, then and now.

9:35 – With the change in the way we consume information, is intellectualism dead?

13:58 – The origins of this book: activism vs. preaching to the remnant. The value of engaging these ideas deeply to maximize credibility and effectiveness.

18:40 – From Marx to Rothbard: People who care about ideas are reachable and teachable.

20:17 – Exploring argumentation ethics. To understand liberty, we must understand property.

29:13 – Oh crap! Does Elon Musk own us?

29:31 – Back to argumentation ethics. Is v. ought. Natural order arguments.

35:31 -- A very brief discussion of Michael Huemer and intuitionism.

37:23 -- Five blind men describing an elephant - all roads lead to liberty.

40:30 -- Outro

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 422.

A new podcast by Dumo Denga, ManPatria, has just released an audio narration of my article "What Libertarianism Is" for its first episode, entitled "What is Libertarianism." This narration appears to be based on the original article, not the updated version that appears as chap. 2 of Legal Foundations of a Free Society.

There is also a previous narration of this article by Graham Wright (KOL005).