Intellectual Property and Information Control: Philosophic Foundations and Contemporary Issues

Computer technology and the proliferation of digital networks have radically altered how ideas and information are gathered and manipulated and generated new conflicts between public use and private rights. These conflicts raise serious problems: Are abstract ideas and information proper subjects of ownership? What role should privacy rights play? How does the violation of intellectual property rights compare morally to the violation of physical property rights? Now available in paperback, Intellectual Property and Information Control provides answers and strategies for dealing with these and other questions while mounting a philosophical defense of rights to intellectual and intangible property.

As the book shows, a policy that allows too much access may stymie innovation and cause individuals to isolate themselves. At the other extreme, huge, multinational corporations may hold as intangible property vast amounts of knowledge, including sensitive personal information. Through discussions of patent law, fair use, and practical problems such as privacy in the workplace, Moore demonstrates that intellectual and intangible property rights exist along with privacy rights. The latter will sometimes constrain what can be done with the former.

Moore (philosophy, East Michigan University) offers a philosophical defense of intellectual property rights, with consideration to the possibility of owning ideas, public access to information, privacy, and comparisons to physical property rights. Basing his work on a Lockean account, he defends the principles of intellectual property and recommends changes in the institutional and legal practices surrounding them. Copyrights, patents, trade secrets, genetic information, and encryption are specifically considered.

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Adam D. Moore teaches philosophy at the University of Washington, and has also taught at Eastern Michigan University. He is the editor of Intellectual Property: Moral, Legal, and International Dilemmas.