Humpday Humor: Copyright Law

The unintended humor in copyright law, by Stephan Kinsella...

Read and hear more from Stephan at his site.

Is "Intellectual Property" Actually Property?

Thanks to Stephan Kinsella for tipping me off to the mass seizure of website domain names by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

From last December:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations teamed with 10 foreign law enforcement agencies to seize hundreds of domain names that were illegally selling counterfeit merchandise online to unsuspecting consumers. 

The 706 domain names seized were set up to dupe consumers into unknowingly buying counterfeit goods as part of the holiday shopping season. The operations were coordinated by the HSI-led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) in Washington, D.C.

-Emphasis mine-

The ICE people are claiming that imitating & copying are criminal acts.  But would it be possible to have a comfortable lifestyle without copying?  If imitation is a real crime then Ford and General Motors owe a lot to the inventor of the wheel.  

The anti-copying propaganda campaign is well-funded by the likes of Sony Music, Disney Studios, Pfizer and Eli Lilly.

If you have ever questioned the propaganda and wondered if intellectual property is actually property then you should check out Mr. Kinsella's work.  He gives a great introduction here.