[tremon]

Similarly, free markets are markets that have sufficient safeguards to keep the market free, not markets that are free from legislation. From the oracle[0]:

In a free market, the laws and forces of supply and demand are free from any intervention by a government or other authority, and from all forms of economic privilege, monopolies and artificial scarcities

From this simple snippet, we can conclude three things:

- government and other authorities are only limited to not interfere with supply and demand; enforcing product standards does not make a market non-free

- good anti-monopoly legislation is an example of the government working towards the free market, not against it

- Anything involving copyright and patents is by definition not a free market

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_market

[dahart]

I’d agree with all of that, though I’m squeamish on the very last one. I think copyrights are too long and there are pretty big problems in the patent system, but IP protection does have similar benefits to enforcing product standards.

Essentially IP protection is encouraging creation and innovation by preventing someone who didn’t do the work from simply stealing it and profiting without paying the creator. This is certainly over-simplified, but one way of viewing IP protections is that it’s trying to balance multiple freedoms, and that a free market with no regulation at all is not actually free for everyone. Having no protections on product standards is a loss of freedom for consumers. Having no protections on intellectual property is a loss of freedom for creators (and, the thinking goes, would be a net drain on the economy).

Here are some hastily googled arguments in favor of viewing IP protection as part of a free market:

https://www.aei.org/technology-and-innovation/intellectual-p...

https://cip2.gmu.edu/2013/11/14/copyright-is-still-essential...