on civil disobedience and political action

An essay competition that invites contributors to criticise intellectual property is a self-fulfilling, though interesting, experiment in ascertaining whether financial incentives are a pre-requisite of intellectual creations. As, I write these words, I harbour no expectation of monetary reward to repay my effort. Yet, for some strange reason, I write and continue to write. I am irrational, it seems.

If irrationality is the nature of my condition, I am happy with the company I keep. The great body of serious IP scholars have been crying foul over the direction of IP laws for the past number of years, yet at the same time the level of legal protection afforded to intellectual property is on an exponential curve upwards. It is hardly surprising that major drug, software and media corporations and their hired guns are more adept at bending the ears of lawmakers than a few university eggheads. Nonetheless, we have an unusual state of affairs where the theorists of an important area of ...