For however much the state may gain by not having to fund roads on its own, society would lose in aggregate if the open commons of transportation were lost.

The war against illegal file-sharing is like the church's age-old war against masturbation. It's a war you just can't win.

If the only way a library can offer an Internet exhibit about the New Deal is to hire a lawyer to clear the rights to every image and sound, then the copyright system is burdening creativity in a way that has never been seen before because there are no formalities.

Before the monopoly should be permitted, there must be reason to believe it will do some good - for society, and not just for monopoly holders.

We always build on the past; the past always tries to stop us.

So uncritically do we accept the idea of property in culture that we don't even question when the control of that property removes our ability, as a people, to develop our culture democratically.

Lawyers rarely test their power, or the power they promote, against this simple pragmatic question: "Will it do good?" When challenged about the expanding reach of the law, the lawyer answers, "Why not?