Thanks to Howard for pointing to this interview (which I couldn't view because I don't get C-Span). For the non-lawyers, Posner is a federal appellate judge (in Chicago) and is most recently known for his role as a mediator who tried to settle the Microsoft case. He is a prodigous writer of scholarly books, and has a new one on the role of the Intellectual in society. I was very intrigued by the interview transcript, and particularly with this passage, where he was asked about the importance of Philospher John Stuart Mill:
POSNER: About Mill? Well, as a public intellectual, his -- his most important work is, you know, a short book, "On Liberty," in which he advocates a form of liberalism which I consider very -- I, by modern standards, describe myself as a conservative, but what Mill said, basically, was that the only business of government is to protect people in the, you know, kind of peaceful enjoyment of their -- you know, whatever they want to do. So you know, his -- so he thought people should be allowed to do whatever they wanted to do, as long as they weren't hurting other people. So that's liberalism in both the economic and the personal area. I guess now we'd think of that -- of this as libertarianism -- includes free speech but also, you know, freedom to engage in business activities without the heavy hand of government.
I am glad to see a federal judge recognize the importance of Mill's ideas. I wish that more people agreed with Mill's view of the proper role of government. I guess that means that I'm basically a Libertarian. Oh well, I can live with that....
12:58:57 PM
Check the pleading here, thanks to the Smoking Gun website. Via [FARK]
And who says, that there is no creative writing in legal briefs?
12:44:58 PM
Can Pat Riley (no longer coaching Lakers) make $150k if people use the term "three-peat"?
Martin has the scoop and the explanation: "This is the kind of story that gets anti-IP folk riled up about those who "highjack" common terms, but remember, Pat Riley can only enforce the trademark THREEPEAT against people who use it as a trademark, not people like you and me who use THREEPEAT all the time to describe situations where we have won our third consecutive championship.
I noticed Ken Layne (a big Lakers fan) called it the "Triple Crown". What's the word on ownership of that term?
12:36:12 PM
