As I am in the intellectual property business, I’m a pretty big fan of intellectual property rights. And, without reading the stuff he’s referring to, I think I disagree with Mark. I may agree with him about the undesirability of certain “gibbering and twitching” in the popular culture, but I think he’s off his feed if he’s really suggesting the way to still such gesticulations is to weaken intellectual property rights.

That said, Mark hits on one of my — and my dad’s — favorite points. Copyright laws are, simply, a form of censorship. They prevent me from saying certain things, in certain ways, under certain circumstances, merely because they’ve been said before. Now, it’s a form of censorship, broadly speaking, I endorse. The word “Right” only appears once in the US Constitution (not counting the Bill of Rights) — to protect intellectual property rights.

But let those who believe censorship is always and everywhere a great evil explain how copyright laws are not what they hate most. And let them do it in print or song so I can rip-off their comments without paying them a royalty!