George Hotelling: I just posted an eBay auction for a song I bought from the iTunes music store. It should be interesting to see how this works out. I only spent $0.99 on it but I bought the song just as legally as I would a CD, so I should be able to sell it used just as legally right?
The ironic thing about Jack's "Intellectual Property" vendors is that they don't actually want to sell a product. They rail against Napster and P2P because they make great villains, but what would they think of an efficient market where individuals could trade and sell the IP they purchase?
3-State Bit welcomes Digital Rights Management because he thinks it will allow him to prove that he owns the products he purchased. He imagines selling his under-utilized music online at marginal cost, assuming that first sale doctrine will protect his right to participate in an efficient "virtual property" market.
Under this theory, I could purchase a movie online, watch it in Pennsylvania on Saturday morning, electronically rent or lend it to my brother in Ontario for the afternoon, and get it back by Saturday night. Hollywood would make the first sale (IPO), but you and I would be able to make the second and third sale.
