Kinsella On Liberty

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 231. This is my appearance on Let's Talk ETC! (Ethereum Classic) (Dec. 8, 2017), discussing the referenced topics. The audience is not really a libertarian one so I explained different approaches to libertarianism and some of my thoughts about libertarian activism, the prospects of bitcoin and other technology possibly aiding in the fight for human liberty and the battle against the state, and so on. The host was very good, the discussion very civil, and the audio quality is pretty good.

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 230. This is my own audio recording of my debate on IP at the Yale Political Union (Facebook) on Tues., Dec. 5, 2017. My opponent was attorney Candice Cook. My initial argument begins at 0:04:40, followed by some Q&A, and my closing argument begins at 1:42:20. I can't say I recommend listening to the comments of others, as none of my arguments were really addressed and the arguments given are pretty incoherent—the arguments for IP were rooted in confused utilitarianism and even the arguments against IP were mostly rooted in anti-property socialistic assumptions. As expected, I lost the debate, by vote of the students, by a vote of about 2:1. Admittedly, it doesn't sound too bad to get 1/3, when not even all libertarians have the right view on IP, but it's worse than that: many of those who voted with me voted against IP for socialistic, anti-property reasons. Everyone is so confused about this topic. I knew this would be the case, I knew it would basically impossible, hopeless, to persuade mainstream left-socialistic types in a short talk of a radical position that rests upon having a sound view of property rights. So I went ahead, giving up hope on the audience, and laid out a systematic argument against IP based the nature of human action, human interaction, and property rights. A systematic, if compressed, argument, that could possibly resonate with some open-minded people someday listening to the recording via this podcast.  Thus, my initial presentation was a very condensed (15-20 minutes) but very fundamental explanation of the nature of property rights and why intellectual property is totally incompatible with property rights. Even though I knew it would be a hard sell with Yale undergrads. As can be heard from the "hissing" (their version of booing) whenever anything pro-private-property or capitalistic was mentioned, and from the comments of some of the student political group leaders, there was a good deal of explicit Marxism and socialism among the student. But it was fun nonetheless and they were very civil and respectful. Video of the debate available here and embedded below. (I spoke on IP before a smaller student group back in 2014—see KOL151 | Yale Speech: Balancing Intellectual Property Rights and Civil Liberties: A Libertarian Perspective.)  

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 229. This is my appearance on the Ernie Hancock "Declare your Independence" show for Nov. 3, hours 2 and 3. There is a "debate"—more of a discussion really—with libertarian-ish gun-rights author Alan Korwin in the first segment. Some of Ernie's shownotes are pasted below, plus the Vimeo video versions of hours 2 and 3 are embedded below.       11-03-17 -- Roy Robin - Stephan Kinsella - Alan Korwin -- (VIDEO MP3 LOADED) Roy Robin (Founder ICO Token Fund) talks about their decentralized investment platform - Stephan Kinsella (Intellectual Property Attorney) and Alan Korwin (Author; GunLaws.Com) discuss intellectual property and copyright issuesProgram Date:  Friday, November 3, 2017 Hour 1:  Media Type: Audio   •  Time: 48:48 Mins and Secs Hour 2:  Media Type: Audio   •  Time: 136:0 Mins and Secs Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock - Radio Host: Ernest Hancock Email: ernesthancock@cox.net Website: www.ernesthancock.com Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock strives to create an understanding of the Philosophy of Liberty. Understanding is far more important than agreement -- that will come in its own time. DONATE Bitcoins Here 1PCnPViv1PENR5Qme63DKYbj19hmHQoag1 Click to Subscribe To RSS Feed: (Use your browser) Click to Subscribe to this program on iTunes Store: (Podcast) Subscribe to Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock Archives DYI App for Android LRN.FM for Android and iOS! Listen Live @ LRN.fm HOUR ONE Media Type: Audio   •  Time: 48:48 Mins and Secs Guests:  Roy Robin Topics:  ICO Token Fund Hour 1 - Roy Robin (Founder ICO Token Fund) talks about their decentralized investment platform  Hour 2 - Stephan Kinsella (Intellectual Property Attorney) and Alan Korwin (Author; GunLaws.Com) discuss intellectual property and copyright issues Hour 3 - Stephan Kinsella on intellectual property rights CALL IN TO SHOW: 602-264-2800 -30- Feature Article  •  Global Edition Freedom's Phoenix Declare Your Independence APP now on Google Play  Donna Hancock Listen to any recent show of "Declare Your Independence" at the click of a button!     November 3rd, 2017 Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock on LRN.FM / Monday - Friday 9 a.m. - Noon (EST) Studio Line: 602-264-2800    Hour 1 2017-11-03 Hour 1 Roy Robin from Ernest Hancock on Vimeo. Roy Robin With Over 10 Years of Experience Building Teams, Building Brands and Launching Companies, Roy brings a unique background of proven leadership to the ICOT Project. Webpage: http://icotokenfund.com/go/ Investment Breakdown Below is the ICOT Foundations Strategy One Year Hold 40% of the Holdings will be invested 1/3'rd into BTC, 1/3'rd into LTC and 1/3'rd into ETH for a One Year Hold ICO Investing

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 228. This is my appearance on Lions of Liberty, Episode 318, with host Marc Clair. We discussed Hans-Hermann Hoppe's "argumentation ethics" defense of libertarian rights, and related issues. Related: “Argumentation Ethics and Liberty: A Concise Guide” (2011) and Supplemental Resources Hoppe’s Argumentation Ethics and Its Critics New Rationalist Directions in Libertarian Rights Theory, 12:2 Journal of Libertarian Studies: 313-26 (Fall 1996) Punishment and Proportionality: The Estoppel Approach, 12:1 Journal of Libertarian Studies 51 (Spring 1996). Defending Argumentation Ethics: Reply to Murphy & Callahan, Anti-state.com (Sept. 19, 2002) KOL218 | Argumentation Ethics – Patterson in Pursuit March 26, 2017 Hans Hermann Hoppe, “On The Ethics of Argumentation” (PFS 2016) Frank van Dun, “Argumentation Ethics and The Philosophy of Freedom” Kinsella, The Genesis of Estoppel: My Libertarian Rights Theory KOL161 | Argumentation Ethics, Estoppel, and Libertarian Rights: Adam Smith Forum, Moscow (2014) KOL181 | Tom Woods Show: It Is Impossible to Argue Against Libertarianism Without Contradiction The A priori of Argumention, video introduction by Hoppe Lecture 3 of my 2011 Mises Academy course, “The Social Theory of Hoppe” (slides here) Lecture 2 of my 2011 Mises Academy course, “Libertarian Legal Theory: Property, Conflict, and Society” (slides here)

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 227. This is my appearance on Voluntary Japan Live! with host Graham Smith. We talked about ownership of thoughts, the basics of libertarian property rights and terms like ownership, mind, brain, causation, action, property, and so on, intellectual property, the nature of contracts, and, of course, the dreaded "toy helicopter" controversy! (Brent Ancap had another post about this with additional links and with an excerpt of the video dealing only with the toy helicopter part here; video here.)   From the VJ Live! shownotes on Youtube: " Streamed live 4 hours ago Libertarian IP lawyer and writer for Mises.com Stephan Kinsella joins the show tonight for a discussion on IP, ownership, and the difficult topic of the very nature of property, itself. Tonight's talk promises to be lively one, as Stephan and I do not seem to see eye-to-eye on every issue. There are many things that, I think, ought to be ironed out regarding libertarian attitudes toward IP, and the all-too-common knee jerk reactions of anarchists against things even as legitimate as voluntary terms of use contracts. Which contracts, for the record, Mr. Kinsella has stated, are indeed legitimate, if unlikely to be entered into. JOIN THE LIVE CHAT WITH YOUR QUESTIONS! SEE YOU SOON! ***LINKS*** Anarchyball Thread Post: https://www.facebook.com/Anarchyball/... “Information is not ownable. Information should not be property.” ~Stephan Kinsella debates Chris LeRoux, 22:07 https://youtu.be/wgJOeWU1Bek *** “Argumentation Ethics, Estoppel, and Libertarian Rights” Presentation (Moscow. Nov. 2, 2014) http://www.stephankinsella.com/2014/1... *** Mises Wire: The relation between the non-aggression principle and property rights: a response to Division by Zer0 https://mises.org/blog/relation-betwe... *** Patterson in Pursuit Podcast: " https://youtu.be/M22mq4vA4Ew

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 226. This is a short interview I did while at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Property and Freedom Society, for Grosse Freiheit TV. Video embedded below. I think this is perhaps not my best performance, but some may find it of interest.

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 225. This is my speech delivered earlier today at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Property and Freedom Society. Video embedded below. Slides used embedded below (or can be downloaded). The subsequent Q&A session for our panel is also embedded below (but not included in the audio RSS stream on this podcast feed).   Related: Williamson Evers, “Toward a Reformulation of the Law of Contracts,” vol. 1, no. 1, J. Libertarian Stud. (1977) Rothbard, The Ethics of Liberty, ch. 19: “Property Rights and the Theory of Contracts” (1982; 1998) Rothbard “Justice and Property Rights,”Property in a Humane Economy, Samuel L. Blumenfeld, ed. (1974) (online here) Also in Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays (1974) (online here) and later in The Logic of Action One Kinsella, “A Libertarian Theory of Contract: Title Transfer, Binding Promises, and Inalienability,” J. Libertarian Stud. (2003) Kinsella, “Justice and Property Rights: Rothbard on Scarcity, Property, Contracts…,” The Libertarian Standard (Nov. 19, 2010) Kinsella on Liberty podcast: KOL146 | Interview of Williamson Evers on the Title-Transfer Theory of Contract KOL197 | Tom Woods Show: The Central Rothbard Contribution I Overlooked, and Why It Matters More detail in my “Libertarian Legal Theory” course, Mises Academy (2011), Lectures 3-4 (see KOL118)

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 224. I was a guest on the Tom Woods show, Episode 998, today, discussing the work and theories of Hans-Hermann Hoppe. More--

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 223. I was interviewed for the Our Interesting Times podcast, by host Tim Kelly, for the Aug. 8, 2017 episode, to discuss the basic case against intellectual property law.

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 222. This is my second speech at last weekend's Mises Brasil's 2017 “V Conferência de Escola Austríaca” [5th Austrian School Conference], Mises Brasil, Universidade Mackenzie, São Paulo, Brazil (May 12–13, 2017): “Intellectual Property Imperialism Versus Innovation and Freedom.” The Q&A is included even though the questions are in Portuguese; most answers should make sense given the context.  This is a recording from my iPhone; video and higher quality audio will be linked later. The video is embedded here: The slides that I use are embedded below. Slides used for Mises Brasil: My original slides:

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 221. This is my first speech at Mises Brasil's 2017 “V Conferência de Escola Austríaca” [5th Austrian School Conference], Mises Brasil, Universidade Mackenzie, São Paolo, Brazil (May 12–13, 2017): “State Legislation versus Law and Liberty.” The Q&A is included even though the questions are in Portugese; most answers should make sense given the context. This is a recording from my iPhone; video and higher quality audio will be linked later. Update: See also Legislation and the Discovery of Law in a Free Society. The Youtube is here: The slides that I use are embedded below. Slides used for Mises Brasil: My original slides: Further resources: KOL001 | “The (State’s) Corruption of (Private) Law” (PFS 2012) KOL129 | Speech to Montessori Students: “The Story of Law: What Is Law, and Where Does it Come From?” KOL199 | Tom Woods Show: The State’s Corruption of Private Law, or We Don’t Need No Legislature “Legislation and the Discovery of Law in a Free Society,” Journal of Libertarian Studies 11 (Summer 1995), p. 132.1 Condensed version: Legislation and Law in a Free Society,” Mises Daily (Feb. 25, 2010)  Is English Common Law Libertarian? (Powerpoint; PDF) Further reading: Bruno Leoni, Freedom and the Law Watson, Alan, The Importance of “Nutshells” Herman, Shael, The Louisiana Civil Code: A European Legacy for the United States Giovanni Sartori, Liberty and Law Alan Watson, Roman Law and Comparative Law The Story of Law, by John M. Zane (I haven’t finished it yet but liked what read so far) (also online) Arthur Hogue, The Origins of the Common Law

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 220. This is my interview by Rod Rojas of the Future Gravy show, which focuses on bitcoin and blockchain topics. We discussed how patents harm innovation and various strategies some companies use to try to deal with the patent threat, such as patent pooling, defensive patent licensing, whether Blockstream's Patent Pledge is really a tactic that makes them a patent threat to the blockchain community, and related matters. The video is embedded below. Relevant material: Blockstream’s Defensive Patent Strategy: Patent Pledge EFF: The Defensive Patent License; Blockstream Announces Defensive Patent Strategy; Blockstream: Modified Innovator’s Patent Agreement; EFF: Blockstream Commits to Patent Nonaggression. Kinsella, The Patent Defense League and Defensive Patent Pooling ----, Do Business Without Intellectual Property ----, “Defensive Patent License” created to protect innovators from trolls; probably won’t work ----, Twitter Heroically Promises Not to Use Patents Offensively The Patent Pledge KOL220 | Future Gravy Interview about Blockstream and the Defensive Patent License Bitmex: A blockchain-specific defensive patent licence.

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 219. I delivered a talk earlier today for the Houston Property Rights Association (April 28, 2017), “Property: What It Is and Isn’t,” which sets out the framework for how to view property rights in general and then finally turns to intellectual property. The main talk lasted for about the first 30 minutes; the final hour is Q&A. My speech notes (unedited and raw) are below. Property: What It Is and Isn’t   Stephan Kinsella Kinsella Law Group, Libertarian Papers, C4SIF.org   Houston Property Rights Association · April 28, 2017   Ï   When a Great Austrian thinker was asked, “What is Best in Life?” He answered: “To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.”   Okay, that was Arnold Scharzenegger as Conan. This recognizes that conflict always possible in human life There are only so many “things” to go around, and if multiple people want it, they can fight violently over it. There can be conflict, precisely because we do not live in a world of superabundance. Garden of Eden etc. we live in a world where conflict is possible Another way to put this: we live in a world of scarce resources Better called “rivalrous”   Let’s turn to the ideas of another great Austrian thinker, Ludwig von Mises Praxeology: the logic of human action Structure of human action Humans use knowledge about the world to select, control and employ scarce resources (means of action) to change the future—to achieve ends Notice two crucial ingredients to successful human action: knowledge, and scarce resources/means. This is true of Crusoe alone on his island It is also true of man in society   In society there is another way to handle the problem of scarce resources Instead of conflict, we can develop usage or ownership rules, to permit scarce resources to be used peacefully, productively, cooperatively, and without conflict This is the origin and basis of “property”. Alone, a man wants to use a thing: he uses it: he controls it, possesses it. In society, there could be two people who want the same thing, but because it is scarce only one can use it. Usage rules emerge that specify an owner of a given contestable resource. We call this system “property rights” We sometimes call the objects themselves “property” That chair is my property When you use a resource to change the world, in addition to your hands, your body, it becomes an extension of yourself. It becomes identified with the user. “Part of” the user. We might say it is a feature, or characteristic, or an aspect, of the user—or a “property” of the user. My gun, my knife, my fishing net, are how I control the world. I rely on them as I rely on my hands and my eyes. Thus we refer to owned objects as “a property of” the owner. we say he has a “proprietary interest in” the object, he is the proprietor, the owner. He has a property right in that resource. Notice earlier: can say these resources are “characteristics” or “features” or properties of a person’s identity. It would be odd to say “that chair is my characteristic” or “my feature”. Yet we are used to saying “that chair is my property” but what we mean is: a given person is the owner of that resource. A given person has a property right in that resource.

  Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 218. This is Episode 50 of the Patterson in Pursuit podcast, where host Steve Patterson interviews me about Hans-Hermann Hoppe's argumentation ethics. [Update: He does a breakdown of our discussion in Episode 63.] Patterson's description: If we choose to argue, have we presupposed an ethical framework? Is “self-ownership” a concept that cannot coherently be doubted? To help me answer these questions, I’m joined by one of the most prominent supporters of “argumentation ethics” – the theory that says ownership is inescapable, and as soon as we choose to argue, we’re committed to a set of ethical values. Related resources: Kinsella, “Argumentation Ethics and Liberty: A Concise Guide” (2011) and Supplemental Resources Hans Hermann Hoppe, “On The Ethics of Argumentation” (PFS 2016) Kinsella, New Rationalist Directions in Libertarian Rights Theory Frank van Dun, "Argumentation Ethics and The Philosophy of Freedom" Kinsella, The Genesis of Estoppel: My Libertarian Rights Theory Kinsella, Defending Argumentation Ethics: Reply to Murphy & Callahan

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 217. This is Episode 14 of the MusicPreneur podcast, "Intellectual Property is the Bastard Child of the Gatekeepers," run by host James Newcomb. I appeared on his previous podcast, Outside the Music Box, a while back. This one is a fresh, stand-alone discussion where I lay out the case against IP fairly methodically. MusicPreneur shownotes below. See also my A Selection of my Best Articles and Speeches on IP. 01/31/2017 | 0 Listen to this episode Play / pause 1x Intellectual Property is the Bastard Child of the Gatekeepers (Ep. 14) 0:00 0:00 Intellectual Property is the Bastard Child of the Gatekeepers (Ep. 14) Download "Doing Business Without Intellectual Property!" Download stephankinsella.com You're probably going to disagree with what is said in this episode. In fact, it could very well make you angry. But, as Bob Dylan said, "The times, they are a changin'." It's an issue that I've wrestled with over the years and have finally come to the conclusion that Intellectual Property (IP) is detrimental to progress and innovation. While on the surface it appears to protect the rights of content creators to profit from their content, the reality is that the only people who really profit are the "gate keepers" and those who hang out near "the gates". I've tried to take a "back door" approach with this issue before, thinking that people would somehow be persuaded to see my point of view without actually telling them my point of view. Not surprisingly, the results of that approach weren't encouraging. I've decided to just come right out and say it. Intellectual Property is Horrible The fact of the matter is that just about every way of thinking that was considered set in stone a short time ago is suddenly up for debate once again. What are the origins of IP? How did it become de facto conventional knowledge in modern society? Is it really the only legalized monopoly in existence? Enter my guest for this episode, Stephan Kinsella. He's been a patent attorney in Houston, TX for nearly 30 years. He's the author of Against Intellectual Property as well as a pamphlet titled, Doing Business Without Intellectual Property.  In this discussion, we discuss why intellectual property (IP) is a hindrance to progress and innovation for musicians, and how MusicPreneur's can navigate the oftentimes confusing waters of IP. IP is not compatible with traditional view of property. World of scarcity - one person can use at a time Austrian Economics Mises: Human Action Act: Human has conception of where he is, what future is coming, anticipates what future is coming. Makes necessary changes... Informed by your knowledge of what's possible; tools at your disposal. Involves employment of scarce resources Guided by knowledge Impossible to have monopoly in an idea. IP Law enforces law with use of force. Another form of redistribution of wealth. 2 Rules in Acquiring Property First person to start using it - Homesteading; original appropriation...