Comment by kazinator
9 days ago
New rule: you get to keep your belongings for 20 years and that's it. Then they are taken away. Every dollar you made twenty or more years ago, every asset you acquired, gone.
That oughtta be enough to incentivize people to work and build their wealth.
Anything more than that is unnecessary.
I think you mean "20 years after you die". That seems like a perfectly rational way to deal with people who want to be buried in their gold and jewels in a pyramid.
OK, so you can have your dad's piano for 20 years after he dies, after that it's public property.
Some people would surprisingly agree with that.
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We should never have accepted the term "intellectual property" at all, if this is the mindset it leads to.
Intellectual property does not belong to you. The entire concept of "owning" intellectual property is a very recent thing.
So how about we go back to how it used to be and just remove this entire concept.
You can own things you can't own an idea.
Your copyrighted work just has to be an original expression, not derived from someone else's work. It doesn't have to contain original ideas.
Patents are for ideas. Patents do in fact expire far faster than copyrights in the USA. The main problem with patents is patent trolling in the area of software patents.
It would be a lot easier to defend copyright if it expired quicker.
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I disagree that you can own things, but I certainly concede IP as a good starting point.
So you wouldn't mind if I dip my hands into the pockets of the clothing you are wearing and help myself to whatever cash bills I might find?
Also, can you wash this not-my car I'm driving, that happens to be registered in my name?
Let me know if you will be requiring compensation for not-your time and not-your effort.
You will find the needed cleaning materials at the household goods store down the street. Just walk in, grab whatever you need, and walk out.
So every year I go to a swap meet and try to exchange my “expiring” belongings for something similar to reset the clock? Or, they get taken away by force? By someone who has meticulous records of all my stuff?
What problem are you trying to solve?
Ideas are free to replicate. Nothing is taken.