The ownership of business is said to be limited by government regulation. Individuals do make judgments about the behavior of others which is regarded as a threat to their own welfare. When there is considerable agreement about such judgments, a legal system becomes possible. The more people agree with these legal standards, the more they regard it as a system of justice. Property can be acquired by claiming what was previously unowned, by creating what was previously non-existent, by trade, by gift and by theft.
Conventions vary for claiming the previously unowned.
Claiming ownership of a vast tract of land by standing on it is frequently inadequate to confer social acknowledgment. Agricultural use can provide clearly defined involvement and boundaries of involvement for establishing land claim. When land was as plentiful as buffalo in North America, this approach was serviceable. Claiming ownership of land on the basis of a lifestyle of hunting for wildlife is more problematic because of the lack of boundaries. Others might claim that by mixing labor with land one only deserves the increase in value which results.