This book examines the development of the concept of intellectual property in the United States during the nineteenth century.

Owning Ideas is a comprehensive account of the emergence of the concept of intellectual property in the United States during the long nineteenth century. In the modern information era, intellectual property has become a central economic and cultural phenomenon, and an important lever for allocating wealth and power. This book uncovers the intellectual origins of this modern concept of private property in ideas through a close study of its emergence within the two most important areas of this field: patent and copyright. By placing the development of legal concepts within their social context, this study reconstructs the radical transformation of the idea. Our modern notion of owning ideas, it argues, came into being when the ideals of eighteenth-century possessive individualism at the heart of early patent and copyright were subjected to the forces and ideology of late-nineteenth-century corporate liberalism.

The recent proliferation of intellectual property has caused much public disagreement over the nature and legitimacy of owning immaterial goods. How is it that we believe in ownership of intangible, abstract goods like music, software and design, and even colors and smells? Who came up with the idea of legally owning ideas, and which rationales are behind it? The author, Roland Spitzlinger, investigates the philosophical foundation and legitimacy of intellectual property rights. He takes the reader back to the historical roots of patents in the sixth century B.C.E. and asks if traditional property regimes can really be extended to non-material goods. What can we learn from arguments proposed by John Locke, G.W.F. Hegel and Jean-Jacques Rousseau and how could their thoughts help to better understand the ongoing dispute between supporters and critics of patent and copyright law today? This book is aimed at those interested in the philosophical discussion of intellectual property rights, a concept that has entered all aspects of modern life and which is likely to cause ever growing social and political disturbance in the years to come.

Formally, ownership of ideas is legally impossible, and can never be globally secured. Yet, in very real and significant ways these limits have been undone. In principle, ideas cannot be owned, yet, undoing the distinction between ideas and tangible manifestations, the distinction which underpins the principle, allows the principle to hold even whilst its meaning is hollowed out. Post-Cold War global network capitalism is premised upon regulatory structures designed to enforce deregulation in global markets and production, but at the same time to enforce global regulation of property and intellectual property in particular. However, this roll-out has not been without resistance and limitations. Globalization, the affordances of digital networks, and contradiction within capitalism itself - between private property and free markets - promote and undo global IP expansion. In this book David and Halbert map the rise of global IP protectionism, debunk the key justifications given for IPRs, dismiss the arguments put forward for global extension and harmonization; and suggest that roll-back, suspension, and even simply the bi-passing of IP in practice offer better solutions for promoting innovation and meeting human needs.

A Shepherd to Fools is the second of Drew Mendelson’s trilogy of Vietnam War novels that began with Song Ba To and will conclude with Poke the Dragon. Shepherd: It is the ragged end of the Vietnam war. With the debacle of a failing South Vietnamese invasion of Northern Laos as background, A Shepherd to Fools tells the harrowing tale of a covert Hatchet Team of US soldiers and Montagnard mercenaries. They are ordered to find and capture or kill a band of American deserters, called Longshadows, before the world learns of their paralyzing rebellion. An earlier attempt to capture them failed disastrously, the facts of it buried. Captain Hugh Englander commands the Hatchet Team. He is a humorless bastard, sneering and discourteous to every regular army soldier. He cares little for the welfare of his own men and nothing for the lives of the deserters. The conflict between him and Captain David Weisman, the artillery officer assigned to the mission for artillery support, threatens to tear the team apart. Deep in the Laotian jungle, the team is caught in a final, horrific battle facing an enemy armed with Sarin nerve gas, the “worst of the worst” of the war’s clandestine weapons.

Kyle includes more than 400 of the latest, greatest, and newest small business ideas and innovative new product/service-based small business approaches from all around the world in this comprehensive survey of business.

Master the fundamentals, hone your business instincts, and save a fortune in tuition. The consensus is clear: MBA programs are a waste of time and money. Even the elite schools offer outdated assembly-line educations about profit-and-loss statements and PowerPoint presentations. After two years poring over sanitized case studies, students are shuffled off into middle management to find out how business really works. Josh Kaufman has made a business out of distilling the core principles of business and delivering them quickly and concisely to people at all stages of their careers. His blog has introduced hundreds of thousands of readers to the best business books and most powerful business concepts of all time. In The Personal MBA, he shares the essentials of sales, marketing, negotiation, strategy, and much more. True leaders aren't made by business schools-they make themselves, seeking out the knowledge, skills, and experiences they need to succeed. Read this book and in one week you will learn the principles it takes most people a lifetime to master.