The Struggle to Protect Property Claims in Virtual Worlds
Michael Giberson The Los Angeles Times has the story: “A real-world battle over virtual-property rights.” Apparently virtual world developer/promoter/host Linden Labs has changed its terms of service...
View ArticleTexas Water Rampage
Michael Giberson Clarity in the law is usually deemed a virtue. Groundwater planning processes implemented in Texas a few years ago have led to a few legal fights and the legislature has taken up...
View ArticleMontana-alberta Transmission Line Developer Wants Eminent Domain Power to...
Michael Giberson The Montana-Alberta Tie Line, a transmission project linking Alberta and Western U.S. power markets, has stalled over the resistance of one landowner, who has claimed the proposed line...
View ArticleCoase, Legal Liability, and Pesticide Drift
Lynne Kiesling A ruling last week from Minnesota’s Court of Appeals provides an interesting case study in using common law and legal liability (a la Coase) in an environmental case. As summarized in...
View ArticleOn the Obligations of Income-Earners and Property-Owners to Pay Taxes
Michael Giberson Perhaps you’ve seen the video of Elizabeth Warren, hoping to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, in which she declaims that since roads and police and fire protection are...
View ArticleA Coasian Look at Pesticide and Genetic Drift
Michael Giberson A few weeks back Lynne drew attention to an interesting property dispute between neighboring farmers in Minnesota, currently the subject of legal action (see news summary here, related...
View ArticleApplying Coase to Wildlife Preservation
Lynne Kiesling I loved seeing pictures a couple of weeks ago of an endangered Bengal tiger and her cubs from a hidden camera. Large predator wildlife that roam and are territorial often face reductions...
View ArticleSchmidtz on the Philosophy of Property
Michael Giberson At Bleeding Heart Libertarians, University of Arizona philosopher David Schmidtz discusses what a good concept of property does for society. He sums his view concisely at the end,...
View ArticleMinnesota Supreme Court Rules Pesticide Drift is Not a Trespass, but Might Be...
Michael Giberson The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled today that pesticide drifting across property lines onto an organic farmer’s crop does not constitute a trespass under state law. The court dismissed...
View ArticleAre Property Rights Now More Clearly Defined for Organic Farmers in Minnesota?
Michael Giberson The United States Supreme Court chose to let stand a Minnesota Supreme Court decision concerning the rights of organic farmers exposed to pesticide drift from neighboring conventional...
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