People have a natural right to cultural exchange, whether for aesthetics, entertainment or science.

When only a few merchants have printers, state granted monopolies may be forgiven, but when all people are publishers, monopolies make no sense, and simply inhibit progress and repress the populace.

I tried to persuade William Patry that these ideas were sound, that copyright was doomed, but eventually he appeared not to want to hear from me any more, and ceased publishing my comments on his blog.

However, I think he’d be an excellent choice to help draw up legislation concerning writers’ and inventors’ exclusive rights that was based on natural rights rather than mercantile privilege.