A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS THROUGH THE LENS OF THE FREE AND OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE EXPERIENCE

Date

2023-8

Author

ÖZMACUN, TAHİR ERKAN

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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The concept of property has been a central topic in political philosophy since ancient Greece, whose thinkers recognized the connection between property and inequality, and has remained relevant to political philosophy to this day. The questions of how to distribute property fairly and its relationship with freedom, equality, and the happiness of individuals and societies remain central issues. Liberal and utilitarian thinkers have sought to justify the current conception of private property, while Marxist and egalitarian thinkers have been critical of it. Intellectual property is distinct from material property in terms of both its production process and characteristics. Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) represents a compelling case study for evaluating intellectual property claims across a range of political considerations. The existing intellectual property rights regime and the commodification of intellectual commons have become a significant cause of economic inequalities. Utilitarian and natural-rights theories do not provide a satisfactory justification for the legitimacy of intellectual property rights. Throughout this thesis I argue that economic, legal, and social measures should be taken against the problem of the commodification of socially produced knowledge and the current intellectual property regime.

Subject Keywords

Intellectual Property Rights, Inequality, Free and Open-Source Software, Cognitive Capitalism

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/104855

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis