The article explores the idea that information, particularly personal data, is increasingly being treated as property under common law, rather than merely a subject of manufactured legal rights. The author draws on various legal cases, court language, and everyday practices—such as trading and hoarding data—to argue that people and courts implicitly recognize information as property. This perspective is supported by a law review article and an AEI event that examined the merits of a property-based approach to data protection. However, the author acknowledges skepticism from privacy law scholars and experts like Will Rinehart, who caution against formally establishing property rights in data due to concerns about efficiency, valuation difficulties, and compliance costs.

Despite these reservations, the author believes the evidence points to a genuine, practical recognition of information as property, distinguishing this from theoretical or policy debates about whether it should be so. The article uses a Monty Python sketch metaphor to highlight how some dismiss this view as absurd or irrelevant (“a larch”), while the author insists it is a significant and enduring issue (“a chestnut”) that bridges practical behavior and legal theory. Ultimately, the discussion reflects ongoing tensions between evolving legal interpretations and normative concerns about privacy and data commodification.