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Old 02-04-2010, 11:46 AM   #355
katysax
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Posts: 44
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: Los Angeles
Device: Kindle2, Kindle DX, prs 505
There are a lot of arguments against the proposition that piracy is immoral or wrong. I'm not saying this to justify piracy but as a lawyer who is troubled by the current IP legal regime.

A. The Copyright Laws exceed the Constitutional Authority.

Article I Section 8 | Clause 8 - Patent and Copyright Clause of the Consitution.

[The Congress shall have power] "To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries."

The Copyright laws as currently drafted are seriously problematical in Constitutional terms:

a. They extend the term beyond the life of the author, and
b. They undermine rather than promote the growth of the arts and sciences.

B. The Business Model of the Publishing Industry is Broken, that is the industry's problem, not the responsibility of the general public.

C. Just because the book industry pays a lot of money trumpeting that copying IP is stealing or morally wrong doesn't make it so. Lots of people break all kinds of laws every day (speeding, marijuana, sexual prohibitions, etc) while firmly believing or not caring about the "morality" of the law.
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