Re: [OT] Droit d'auteur vs. free software?

[Henning Makholm <henning@makholm.net>]

Scripsit Steve Langasek <vorlon@netexpress.net>

> Yes, this is entirely reasonable.  Natural rights should be unalienable.
> Intellectual property is not property, and all rights pertaining to
> ideas and their expression are artificial rights.

I don't think that this distiction is useful for anything except
flamewar fuel.

Any right that the government offers to help me enforce (ultimately
by letting its police enforce court rulings based on it) is a
"government-granted right". It may or may not be "natural", but it's
the "government-granted" part that makes it real.

A right that the government does *not* help me enforce may or may not
be "natural", but it's certainly not one that needs to concern us on
this list, because all I can do if somebody does not respect my
"right" is to shout nasty words at them (because the government
does forbid me from trying to force my opinion on them by more
convincing means).

The concept of "natural rights" belongs to politics as best.

-- 
Henning Makholm                                   "Monsieur, vous êtes fou."