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<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">Frankly, you must
acknowledge that the "natural law" theory still has its supporters. The nature
op copyright/authors right is one of these questions lawyers will never agree
on. Unlike in other sciences, lawyers are satisfied by having questions that
remain unanswered forever.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">Having said that,
some comments:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">1. "Natural law" is
generally perceived by lawyers as a very weak proposition from a methodological
perspective. It means: it is <EM>naturally</EM> so - don't ask any further
questions - or in less polite terms: shut up!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">2. After the property
concept was firmly established in the late 18th century during the French
revolution as a "droit inviolable et sacré" (yes, sacré means holy!),
dishonest lobbyists tried to piggyback by promoting the view that
intellectual property was something similar. Scholars soon acknowledged that
this was incorrect. If you want to cite an authoritative source: the great
German scholar Joseph Kohler (1849-1919) proposed "immaterial goods rights"
(Immaterialgüterrechte in German) instead of "intellectual
property".</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">3. The really big threat is
is that "intellectual property" is no longer perceived as a (perhaps incorrect)
generic term, but as an object of rights <EM>per se</EM>. Most lawyers
agree that "intellectual property" is a "closed system", an exception to
the rule of information freedom, limited to copyright, patents, trademark law
and a few other things all *explicitly* codified in law. Some lawyers promote
"unwritten" intellectual property in addition to that, but that is very
controversial. Examoples include goodwill, slavish imitation, domain names.
Oddly enough, some new types of rights are explicitly qualified as "sui
gereneris" (of its own kind) <EM>instead of </EM>intellectual property, which
allows them to escape from some general rules on "IP" (notably most
favoured nation treatment). </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face="Comic Sans MS"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">Fortunately, the US
Constitution explicitly adopts a utilitarian reason for copyright and patents.
In EU, we have constitutional provisions like "intellectual property shall be
protected" - but afaik the correct interpretation is that "IP" rights shall
be protected <EM>as far as recognised:</EM> e.g. the government can not withdraw
a patent withou a statutory reason and due process.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">reiner</FONT></DIV>
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style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=joonasd6@gmail.com href="mailto:joonasd6@gmail.com">Joonas
Mäkinen</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=pp.international.general@lists.pirateweb.net
href="mailto:pp.international.general@lists.pirateweb.net">Pirate Parties
International -- General Talk</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, June 29, 2009 9:59 AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [pp.int.general]
International day of Sharing - September 12</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Sadly, though, many people and especially people working in the
business take it that they already know what they are talking about. No matter
how good you are at history, it doesn't matter if people do not listen to you
and believe you.<BR><BR>Fortunately it seems that the copyright holders are
fighting against this so hard that people actually start seeing through it.
Also we have seen once in a while some prominent members of the holders to
come out and criticise their own ways. They'll see... one day... <BR><BR>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>2009/6/29 Mikko Särelä <SPAN dir=ltr><<A
href="mailto:msarela@cc.hut.fi">msarela@cc.hut.fi</A>></SPAN><BR>
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class=gmail_quote>
<DIV class=im>On Sun, 28 Jun 2009, Richard Stallman wrote:<BR>>
> currently we have a legislatory nightmare where copyright,
patent<BR>> > rights or related intellectual property
rights can never be<BR>> > weakened, only strengthened.
What we need to do is break that<BR>> >
hegemony.<BR>><BR>> To succeed in reducing copyright power, we need to
teach people it is a<BR>> mistake to refer to copyright as "intellectual
property." See<BR>> <A
href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html"
target=_blank>http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html</A>. That term
implies that<BR>> copyright is a natural right that must never be
interfered with.<BR><BR></DIV>You are quite right. It is interesting to see
people's reactions when they<BR>realize that copyright is a leftover
government granted monopoly from the<BR>mercantilist times.<BR><FONT
color=#888888><BR>--<BR>Mikko Särelä<BR>"It is through exchange that
difference becomes a blessing, not a<BR>curse", Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi
of Great Britain<BR></FONT>
<DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV
class=h5><BR><BR><BR>____________________________________________________<BR>Pirate
Parties International - General Talk<BR><A
href="mailto:pp.international.general@lists.pirateweb.net">pp.international.general@lists.pirateweb.net</A><BR><A
href="http://lists.pirateweb.net/mailman/listinfo/pp.international.general"
target=_blank>http://lists.pirateweb.net/mailman/listinfo/pp.international.general</A><BR></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><BR
clear=all><BR>-- <BR>Joonas "JoonasD6" Mäkinen<BR>Varapuheenjohtaja,
viceordförande<BR>Piraattinuoret - Piratungdom<BR><BR>Department of
Mathematics and Statistics<BR>Faculty of Science<BR>University of
Helsinki<BR><BR>gsm +358 40 700 5190<BR>
<P>
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<P></P>____________________________________________________<BR>Pirate Parties
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