SOPA and 3 Ways to Think About Intellectual Property

Stephen Davies

Stephen Davies is a program officer at the Institute for Humane Studies and the education director at the Institute for Economic Affairs in London.

The Stop Online Piracy Act created a stir in the United States about intellectual property and how it should be understood. Attempts to shut down the peer-​to-​peer music-​sharing website Pirate Bay in Europe led to the creation of a new political party, the Pirate Party, which has had some surprising electoral success. The debates over SOPA and Pirate Bay have brought intellectual property into the spotlight. How should we define intellectual property? What are the implications of the different possible definitions? How will the debate end? Prof. Stephen Davies addresses the topic, saying the debate has widespread implications, and “we are going to see a lot more of it in the years to come.”

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