if you were surprised by the beginning of the copyright monopoly and liked that part, I would heartily recommend the full story: The history of copyright.

Cheers,
Rick

The problem is that copyright generates MAFIAA-style organizations in the same way the prohibition ensured the rise of Al Capone.

Bluntly put, whenever there is skewed law generating vast profit opportunities at a detriment to the majority, it is inevitable that you will find organizations such as the MPAA and Ifpi sprouting like mushrooms out of damp soil.

And that is where the moral justification for copyright breaks down.

The false premise is that copyright law is being peddled with the motivation that artists are losing money otherwise. And this is manifestly not true. Hence the law is built on a false premise.

And the only solution is to prevent everyone from freely communicating. Communists discovered this tidbit in the 30′s which is why the modern-day DMCA resembles the old-style stalinist approach to communication.

If freedom of speech exists you will have in effect unlimited filesharing as well. That’s an unavoidable side effect. That being the case we end up right back to the question whether copyright outranks the right to communicate.

I think not.