Posted on 07/18/2002 7:34:04 PM PDT by JameRetief
Big media is overreaching on this in a big way.
just kidding
Right. That's why the annals of history are rife with examples of the legions of documentedly successful anarcho-societies. LOL.
This isn't about the merits of an ararchist society. This is about the logistics of maintaining order. The only way to maintain order if the people absolutely don't want the government to is for it to tactically nuke a major population center under its jurisidiction to set an example. Of course that would set the majority of its military into revolt along with the civilians. The US government has no where near enough might to maintain order if the majority don't want it to. 2M federal employees versus 278M other Americans? A slaughter. The government is not society. It is not the people. The government cannot maintain order without the compliance of the majority of the people under its jurisidiction. Even if it could jail everyone non-compliant person what would that accomplish? The collapse of civil society.
It is the nature of humans to tend to want to live in societies. Without rules and government societies collapse.
" The only way to maintain order if the people absolutely don't want the government to is for it to tactically nuke a major population center under its jurisidiction to set an example."
You are incorrect. Order has been maintained within dissatisfied societies via peaceful, semi-peaceful and non-peaceful revolutions throughout history. The solution to dissatisfaction with government has never been the absence of government; it has been the adopting of new forms of government.
Do you have a problem with intellectual property law?
If you believe in natural law you already have a rule by which to live. Good laws are never made, they are discovered. Only bad laws are made because they will go against the natural order.
Do you have a problem with intellectual property law?
Yes. I believe that the DMCA should be immediately repealed and everyone who voted for it investigated for a quid pro quo from the RIAA, MPAA and BSA. I believe that patents should cover only a handful of industries like the Pharmaceuticals and specific physical products. Software patents are out of the question.
Since when do laws protecting property go against the natural order?
Intellectual property is a social convention. It technically violates natural law because it is property that is sold to someone but the ownership still belongs to the seller. It isn't licensed, it is "sold." To them. Copyright cannot exist without being at the detriment of physical property rights. The consumer electronics and computer industries are heavily regulated on copyright holders' behalf and that regulation isn't good for only a limited period anymore, it's good for about 90 years now.
Any communication can be copyrighted now. I could go to the copyright office and register a message I send you by freepmail for $30 and sue you if you give it to someone else to look at. There is no limit. Free speech is dead now because of copyright law. You cannot reproduce any section of a copyrighted work without explicit permission of the copyright holder no matter what the purpose is. Copyright law is a typical example of right and left wing idiots thinking we need new laws just because the medium is changed. From what I have seen, the turn of the 20th century copyright laws were the most comprehensive, yet constitutional ones we had.
The US Constitution is very specific about why Congress can pass IP laws, to advance the sciences and the arts. No where in Article I, Section 8 does it state that it is for the protection of pop culture icons at the expense of free speech. The majority of those in favor of harsh copyright laws cannot seem to understand the fact that the 1st amendment supercedes the IP clause because it came after it. "Congress shall pass no law abridging freedom of speech to make copyright holders' products more secure" is what it comes down to. People have been arrested for giving academic dissertations on the flaws of eBook and DVD security systems and how they might be exploited. Welcome to the new America, where those poor poor copyright holders have made us all serfs.
Total bull$hit. Intellectual property isn't sold when copies of music or books are sold. If you want to read or hear what anyone else has written or recorded (and owns), you're free to purchase a copy. After you purchase your book or recording, you own your book or recording. The authors, publishers and/or songwriters retain the right to the material copyrighted therein.
It is American to protect the interests of creators and to punish those who steal that which is not theirs; the legal foundation of copyright law is in the common law; anyone wishing to destroy the foundation of copyright law is advocating principles that align themselves with anarchy. Screw anarchy and if the shoe fits the same to you.
Not necessarily Linux-based, but I thought you'd all be interested.
Got root?
I'm inclined to agree. What would be wrong with limiting software copyrights -- which is what I think you meant -- to the same 20 years that pharmacuetical companies have for drugs? Certainly entertainment copyrights, should not last beyond the lifetime of their holder or holder's spouse.
Heck, that's been the whole purpose of American gov't for the past 30+ years. Government has no power over innocent people, so it makes as many as possible into criminals.
All of us, some way and/or somehow, are criminals. Just look at the volumous Federal Register.
Who was it that said if you wanted to know how just a society is, just look at the number of laws it has? I think I'm paraphrasing, but it's to that effect.
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