Why are Copyright and Patent laws unethical?
Copyright and Patent laws are unethical because they can be used to abridge the [freedom of] copying, use, distribution, and modification of published information. Why is the abridgement of the [freedom of] copying, use, distribution, and modification of published information unethical? The abridgement of the [freedom of] copying, use, distribution, and modification of published information (as defined in USC 17) is unethical for three main reasons, all taken in conjunction with each other: • Arbitrary copying, use, distribution, and modification of published information generally does not cause harm to anyone. When someone makes a copy of a certain piece of information that is published, there is no information lost. The person from which the information is copied (say an author or an inventor) retains the information in exactly the same state. What has happened is that two copies of the same piece of published information arise. What is done with the second copy does not affect what
