KOL234 | Vin Armani Show: Live from London: Kinsella vs. Craig Wright Debate on Intellectual Property

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 234. This is a debate on IP between me and a noted Bitcoin expert, Craig Wright, hosted and moderated by the Vin Armani show. Transcript below along with Grok shownotes. Debating Wright I was in London to attend the inaugural 2018 meeting of Mises UK and to hang with my boys Lee Iglody, Jeff Barr, Doug French, and Hans Hoppe, and had challenged Wright to a debate during a few twitter run-ins (still on-going); I accepted and since I happened to be in London, Wright set it up and we did it at a local studio, with Armani moderating from Vegas. After the debate Further comments appear on my Facebook post and also on the Youtube post (below). Update [7/17/19]: I had my buddies Jeff Barr and Doug French in the room watching, and after the debate, invited Craig to drinks in the hotel bar. We had an interesting, if a bit bizarre and intense, discussion for an hour or so. But in the ensuing weeks, things between us devolved on Twitter. Wright had promised to produce "proof" of patents stimulating innovation during the debate, and apparently, like with many of his promises to produce something, never came through. I pointed that out on Twitter and he eventually ended up blocking me, as well as the podcast's host, Vin Armani, who at the time was, with Wright, a fellow BCH advocate (Vin is still a BCHer but Craig has split off again with his BSV). Of course, in the meantime, Wright has amped up his risible claims to be Satoshi and has been involved in a number of controversial issues in the bitcoin/crypto community. What a character. Also: during the debate I referred to him as Dr. Wright, since he claims to have several PhDs, but now I am not sure he has any legitimate PhDs, other perhaps than one in "theology", so I should not have called him "Dr." That was too deferential. On the other hand, he did pay for the venue and related costs, so I was being polite. Grok Summary The debate on intellectual property (IP) law, hosted by Vin Armani on January 27, 2018, featured Stephan Kinsella arguing against the resolution that IP is a legitimate and useful institution for blockchain and cryptocurrency, while Craig Wright defended it. In his opening, Wright emphasized the scarcity of good ideas and their implementation, arguing that IP protects individual creators' rights more fundamentally than homesteading physical land, as ideas are created from nothing. He cited natural experiments in countries like India, where reintroducing IP laws allegedly led to a 60% increase in patents by startups, not large companies. Wright contrasted IP with alternatives like trade secrets, using the ZeniMax vs. Oculus case to illustrate how trade secrets create market uncertainty and slow innovation, while patents provide disclosure and clarity. He framed opposition to IP as "intellectual communism," forcing creators to share against their will. Kinsella, in his opening, defined IP as government-granted monopolies (patents for inventions, copyrights for artistic works, plus trademarks and trade secrets) that infringe on genuine property rights in scarce, rivalrous resources. He argued that property rights arise from homesteading or contract to resolve conflicts over physical goods, not ideas, which are non-rivalrous and essential to action but not ownable. Kinsella rejected creation as a source of ownership, noting that transforming owned resources (e.g., iron into a horseshoe) creates wealth, not new rights. He claimed IP hinders innovation, distorts culture, and censors speech, prioritizing justice over utilitarian goals like spurring creativity. In response to questions on legitimacy, Kinsella expanded that IP is unethical and un-libertarian, as it transfers property rights without consent, akin to theft or slavery. He criticized IP's arbitrary expiration (e.g., 17 years for patents) as evidence it's not true property, and argued it violates free speech by restricting expression, such as banning sequels or hyperlinks to content. Empirically, he asserted no clear proof IP boosts innovation net of its costs (e.g., patent thickets stifling research), citing economists Boldrin and Levine's work showing patents correlate with filings but not actual productivity gains. Kinsella highlighted his experience as a patent attorney, observing inventions arise from market needs, not IP incentives. Wright rebutted by calling Kinsella's arguments circular and false, insisting IP aligns with Lockean rights and societal agreements. He claimed over 2,000 studies from natural experiments (e.g., IP reductions in India and China leading to innovation drops, followed by surges upon reinstatement) support IP's benefits for small innovators. Wright traced IP to ancient precedents like Roman judicial law and medieval letters patent, rejecting the idea it's a modern monopoly. He argued creators have rights to control their work, and without IP, theft via trade secrets proliferates, as in Google Waymo cases, creating uncertainty that deters investment. On utility, Wright explained IP's mechanism: patents reduce uncertainty by disclosing inventions publicly, enabling due diligence for investors and preventing costly secret thefts, unlike trade secrets that led to billion-dollar disputes (e.g., Oculus). He advocated updating outdated IP models but insisted communities can agree on rules, aligning with individual choice. In blockchain, Wright argued IP prevents fragmentation (e.g., Bitcoin splits), fosters certainty for scaling against incumbents like Visa, and protects costly innovations his company developed, countering claims that open-source drove crypto growth. Kinsella rebutted Wright's evidence as anecdotal, pointing to his compilation of studies showing IP's net harm, including trillions in lost innovation. He labeled IP socialist for interfering with private property, per Hoppe's definition, and dismissed historical precedents as mercantilist monopolies antithetical to free markets. On free speech, Kinsella cited cases like the banned Catcher in the Rye sequel, Nosferatu film destruction, Aaron Swartz's suicide amid copyright charges, and threats against yoga poses or tattoos as direct censorship. He argued trademark creates "reputation rights" implying ownership over others' thoughts, while trade secrets unjustly target third parties. In closings, Wright defended IP against misrepresentations, clarifying Swartz's case involved physical trespass (not just copyright) and the Apple iPhone incident as theft by finding, both violating physical property. He promised to compile real-world studies countering Kinsella's "computer models," emphasizing human action over simulations. Kinsella reiterated IP's injustice, burdening proponents to justify it amid historical injustices like slavery. He agreed information needn't be free but opposed restricting learned knowledge, urging libertarians to favor competition and abolish IP for true free markets. Wright's arguments lack coherence and systematic structure, often jumping between philosophical claims (e.g., ideas as scarcer than land), empirical assertions (e.g., Indian patent surges), and historical anecdotes without clear linkages or definitions. His rebuttals frequently digress into unrelated critiques (e.g., equating Swartz's actions to house-breaking) or unsubstantiated boasts (e.g., "over 2,000 studies" without citations), making the case feel scattershot rather than logically progressive. While he invokes libertarian concepts like individual rights and anti-communism, the arguments are not consistently backed by verifiable evidence; claims rely on vague "natural experiments" or personal company experiences, ignoring counter-studies Kinsella references. This contrasts with Kinsella's methodical breakdown of property theory and empirical critiques. Furthermore, Wright's positions are inconsistent with core libertarian private property rights, which emphasize non-aggression and ownership of scarce resources without state intervention. By advocating state-enforced IP monopolies (e.g., patents in blockchain to prevent "fragmentation"), Wright endorses government grants that restrict others' use of their own property—precisely the interference libertarians like Rothbard and Hoppe decry as socialist. His dismissal of open-source success in crypto as suboptimal ignores libertarian preferences for voluntary agreements over coerced disclosure, and his creation-from-nothing rationale contradicts Lockean homesteading, which ties rights to mixing labor with unowned resources, not ideas. Overall, Wright's defense prioritizes utilitarian outcomes over principled non-initiation of force, undermining libertarian consistency. Youtube (with captions): https://youtu.be/5ckcdnD9lFw Original Youtube (which contains a large number of comments; see below):  ❧ TRANSCRIPT Intellectual Property Debate: Stephan Kinsella vs. Craig Wright Stephan Kinsella, Craig Wright, and Vin Armani Vin Armani Show, London and Las Vegas, Jan. 27, 2018 00:00:00 VIN ARMANI: Welcome everyone to today’s debate.  We are debating intellectual property.  The two opponents are Stephan Kinsella and Craig Wright.  Stephan Kinsella is an attorney in Houston, director of the Center for the Study of Innovative Freedom and editor of Libertarian Papers.  He is one of the foremost libertarian experts on intellectual property. 00:00:23 And Dr. Craig Wright is an inventor, computer scientist, and businessman who is one of the earliest minds behind Bitcoin.  He’s the chief scientist at nChain research and development company involved in Bitcoin and blockchain technologies.  So today what we are going to be debating is the following resolution resolved.  Intellectual property law is a legitimate and useful institution that belongs in the emerging global sphere of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. 00:00:54 Craig Wright will be arguing for the resolution,