Since when is the law (and thus “regulation”) NOT supposed to be concerned with theft (of which “piracy” is nothing other than a means to theft)???
In fact piracy IS THEFT and property rights are at the core of Conservative principals.
A “pirate” is one who attempts to take something while avoiding the costs-to-market-entry that had to be paid by the producers/owners of what the pirate takes, for nothing.
The idea that piracy is justified because technology makes it so much easier, and therefor it is the fault of the owners of the pirated goods, not the pirates, for not adopting a different business plan IS NOT A CONSERVATIVE OR FREE MARKET THEORY SOLUTION.
By the logic of the “its-not-the-pirates-fault” theory, piracy in the Mediterranean in the early 1800s was not the fault of folks like the “Barbary pirates”, but the fault of merchants who failed to build or man ships that could out run the pirates at sea.
Huh? There are already scads of anti-piracy laws. SOPA would deal with the problem ultimately by shutting down whole sectors of industry, regulating others to a stand-still, and would spill over into paralyzing even simple information exchange.
You are 100% correct. It is amazing how so many who view themselves as honest, free market loving conservatives come up with the most convoluted nonsense to justify departing from any real recognition of the property rights of others when it comes to copyrighted material, particularly music and movies./
It's simple, if someone doesn't like the product offered, and the form in which it is offered, just do without that product. But, no, when it comes to copyrights, large numbers of folks say if the product if not offered exactly as they want it, in the exact form they want it, they'll just steal it.
It's weird, some seem to think music and movies are a human right, the same as the air we breath.