Dear Jasper John,
I was surprised to see that you, a libertarian, were so concerned about the copyright laws regarding my article quoting snopes.com. Snopes is indeed strict about claiming the rights to their material and says people referring to their articles should provide a link only. Of course these rights are ultimately dependent on the “gooferment” for enforcement, which seems to violate libertarian principles.
I investigated the libertarian views of copyright and found widely divergent camps. Some libertarians recognize the validity of intellectual property laws and believe in enforcement of patents and copyrights. Included in this group are Ayn Rand and the Cato Institute. Others, such as Murray Rothbard, argue for allowing contractually arising infinite copyright terms and against the need for any government role in protecting intellectual property. Roderick T. Long argues that the concept of intellectual property is not libertarian. He holds that prohibiting people from using, reproducing, and trading copyrighted material is an infringement of freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and that since information exists in people’s minds and other people’s property, one cannot own information without owning other people.
Details of the variant libertarian positions on copyrights and patents are contained in the Wikipedia article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_perspectives_on_intellectual_property.
I don’t know which camp you fall into; I would have suspected you would have championed the Rothbard view given your attitude toward “gooferment” and its complete worthlessness. But I understand your caution given the fact that your lawyers fear “gooferment” action or a lawsuit if you violate the rules.. Maybe I have been violating these rules unwittingly for many years as have millions of others. For a discussion of copyrights and the internet see the link below
Copyright Laws on the Internet Many myths have caused people to believe copyright laws do not apply to the Internet.
However, copyright laws are in effect in today’s cyberspace. …
http://www.pitt.edu/~skvarka/education/copyright/
Sincerely
Donald M Stebbins
BS 1961
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Dear Jasper Stebbins,
(1) I can’t win. I’m just trying to slip under the radar. You, the Gooferment lover, violate the copyright and criticize me for not. No, those “rights”, or any rights, don’t JUST depend upon Gooferment. “Governments are instituted among men …” “We, The People” can enforce any rights that they agree on.
(2) Snopes SOMETIMES provides a good service, when their politics don’t interfere with objectivity. Men, of good will, can abide by the terms of any gift. Hence, if they feel its important to only share their stuff by links, then I feel it’s my moral duty to not defraud them of their work.
(3) Congratulations, maybe all that time at MC wasn’t wasted. Life long desire to learn. Libertarians are like snowflakes. There are other ways to protect information than Gooferment force; just check with any magician. And, yes, the Gooferment can’t do ANYTHING right.
(4) “Lawyers”? I don’t have any lawyers, (unless McEneney, Mike (MC1953) counts), and, yes, I do pick my battles. As far as “rules”, I just try to observe the moral ones and let all the rest take care of themselves. Since you love “Gooferment” so much, I’d have though you would meticulously learn and follow ALL the diktats. Oh yeah, that’s right — that’s impossible.
(5) Copyrights are an illusion. But those, who are deluded into believing there is such a think as “government”, use yet another delusion to inflict force on their fellow man.
ATDA,
fjohn68
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