printI’ve finally updated the Terms of Use for IlanaMercer.com and Barely a Blog. Not that it will deter this kind of conduct.
This is not meant to engender a discussion of hypocrisy—mine—given I am not a fan of copy-right laws. (See Kazaa Vs. The Copyright Cartel, Batty Patents, Do Patents and Copyrights Undermine Private Property?, Patent Wrongs, and How Things Would Work in a Copyright-Free Universe.) However, even less am I a fan of martyrdom. We do, after all, labor under the positive law. The reader should not, moreover, confuse my general opposition to the use of legal force in the case of copyright abuses with an approval of such moral and ethical infringements. Such practices (and their practitioners) are LOW.
Ms. Mercer,
In your “How Things Would Work in a Copyright-Free Universe” you write:
“The copyright system ought to be abolished because there can be no justification for the use of force against legitimate property owners. And force is, very plainly, what flows from the enforcement of the law. Since ideas should not be treated as property, laws that aggress against those who have not violated person or property are wrong.”
In your “Terms of Use” you write:
“The foregoing is legally binding; copyright infringement is a felony.”
I can’t square the two. Am I missing something. [I’ve updated the post in anticipation of such questions]