Why is SOPA/PIPA Even a Possibility?

The below is spot-on. Ideas cannot be property.

Why is SOPA/PIPA even a possibility? Because we have bought into the fiction of "intellectual property." Ownership is based on the idea that matter is finite; therefore if one individual owns a certain piece of matter, someone else may not come along and deprive him of that matter. The theory of "intellectual property" claims that someone can own an idea and prevent others from even repeating it. Defenders of the "intellectual property" theory claim that without it, everything from medical research to writing music would cease to occur, but reality does not bear out those concerns.

Recipes are not generally protected as "intellectual property," yet chefs are constantly inventing new ones. People pay significant amounts of money to hear artists perform their original material in concert, yet pay relatively little – if anything – to hear cover bands perform the same songs. Scientists routinely engage in (nearly pointless) research that is not designed to generate income; why would life-saving medical research be any different?

Theft can only occur by depriving someone of matter. You can't "own" an idea any more than you can own a sunset. It just exists. Anyone who supports allowing government to initiate force against someone – not for stealing – but for creating more of something or spreading information had better reconsider the principles they are espousing. Copying is not theft!

Quote by Parrish Miller