[pp.int.general] "Natural" law

[Reinier Bakels]

> In this particular issue, it's not a human rights issue - the issue 
> whether of not imaginary property is property or not.
>
> Some people imagine that copyright is property (that's why I call it 
> imaginary property). Of course you're not going to counter this  argument 
> by using human rights arguments directly.
>
> By refuting that imaginary property isn't property, the flawed human 
> rights argument falls by itself.
>
Granted, the words "stealing" and "theft" are inappropriate here, but 
copyright (or author's right, for that matter) IS a property right in the 
sense of the ECHR and for instance the German constitution. If you want to 
contest that, you either have to bluff, or to argue against established 
statutory rules and case law.

Ergo: politics should refrain from legalistic arguments.

reinier