“…But They Can Never Take Away Our Freedom!”

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Doc Searls and Jonathan Peterson both have links to Robert Cringely’s latest Pulpit — “Steal This Column: Criticism won’t change the DMCA, but breaking the law will.” So, to increase the Googlerank, I’m linking to them and him!

My addition to this discussion is to remind people of the medieval notions of natural law and positive law. St. Thomas Aquinas, following St. Augustine, believed that there are two kinds of law: that made by men, the positive law, and that written indelibly by God in human hearts and in the natures of things, the natural law. The two must be in harmony with one another. If the positive law violates the natural law, it is no law at all — it is null and void — and it has no power. It is not being broken, because it is not a law. Ignore it as you would any childish silliness and go on.

A law that violates the natural law is not a law, and it should be ignored. This of course applies to a great many things. But it currently applies very well to the infringement of user rights in the realm of software we call “digital media.” The issue is justice — it is a great injustice both to the users and to the true producers of digital content. The law is unjust; therefore, there is no law.

Period. Full stop.

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