patents in a free society (Re: Brother can you help a fiber?)

[bill.stewart@pobox.com (Bill Stewart)]

The standard Libertarian position on patents is "rabid".
Whether "rabidly for" or "rabidly against" or "rabidly endorsing some 
highly nuanced conditional niche position in between", we're in 
pretty solid agreement on the "rabid" part.
Some of us strongly believe in intellectual property.  Some of us 
believe that initiating force to defend "imaginary property" that's 
really a euphemism for a government-granted monopoly is both 
dishonest and anathema.
So take your pick.