IP more sacred than life?
I found this post from Richard Perlman to be particularly poignant. In context, it is in response to the arrest of a software developer in Japan that authored P2P file sharing technology that includes stronger privacy protection.
So, let me understand. In Japan if you develop software that MIGHT be
used to violate copyright laws you can be charged with a crime and be
arrested. Yet, in the USA, if you manufacture guns that MIGHT be used
to kill someone you are essentially immune from criminal prosecution
and, based on recent court cases, even from civil action — and if the
congress has its way, you will soon be fully immune for any liability
from the uses of your products.
We do indeed live in strange times in which intellectual property seems
to be more sacred than human life.
Strange times, indeed.