The concept of "property" in philosophical terms stems from John Locke, who stated that whatever man takes from nature and shapes into something else using his mind and ingenuity belongs to him. From this definition, widely accepted today in western thought, ownership of everything by kings and the nobility was halted, and our middle classes emerged and human ingenuity was fueled to create much wealth.


Legally, property used to belong to the strong until laws were passed against theft.


Morally, property belongs to those who buy it or create it, however, if not sharing it causes harm to the community, the community has a more fundamental right to it, but society may not simply confiscate it.


These three concepts are fundamental underpinnings to our "just" society. Sure there is always "friction" at the margins, (and making music that you do not own available to the world is a form of this friction) but actions should be measured against these concepts.


So however you shape your arguments, however you try to justify actions, however you paint the "adversary", the inescapable bottom line is that those who widely "broadcast" copyright material without permission violate "natural", man made, and moral laws.


The simple way to get on side is for KAZAA and its clones to seek permission to facilitate sharing, and to enter into a commercial arrangement with copyright owners. This is the new internet model. It IS BEING DONE AS WE DEBATE THE ISSUE, which is why I said in an earlier thread that we are behind the times here in our discussion.


Now people can LEGALLY download only those songs you want without "the crap", using the "new technology"


What's left is to educate the masses about property rights. And again, you can construct clever arguments ad nauseum, about how it harms people, about the big bad record companies etc, but I prefer to keep things simple....

....it is against the law, and it is a good law worth upholding because it safeguards MY property as well as that of others.

If writing ever becomes work I think I'm going to have to stop