"Little prigs and three-quarter madmen may have the conceit that the laws of nature are constantly broken for their sakes." -- Friedrich Nietzsche

Agreed.

But I have little sympathy for those corporations who take advantage of the system broken on their behalf, when they whine about theft of their property. People (not you!) are losing respect for the law, which is a poor outcome for everyone.

Executive Order 6102

I rest my case.

In the USA, secure ownership of tangible property is taken as a given in the Constitution and can not be ended, except by due process (5th Amendment).

OTOH, intellectual "property" is treated as a whole separate concept in the Constitution, showing that tangible and intangible property are not regarded as equivalent: "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries".

Now, the key things to note:
1. The reason for this clause is "To promote the Progress..." in general.
2. The rights are granted (i.e. are not inherent), and that only for a "limited Times".

Recognizing that perpetual rights will not promote progress, and nor will no rights at all. So there is an optimum time duration which both incentivizes inventors and at the same time promotes societal progress. This duration is left up to Congress.

It is my contention that Congress has extended the duration way beyond the point where progress is promoted or maximized. In fact, progress is retarded, otherwise we would not suffer flogging the Marvel and Star Wars franchises to death, or drug patents that permit exorbitant profit at the expense of the sick, for example.

As our government has so abjectly failed in its duty to promote progress, I do not feel bound by copyright or patent legislation. If I find myself on a jury in such a case, nullification will be immediate.

Anyone who pretends that piracy is the same as car theft, is a scoundrel. They should be dismissed with contempt.

If you block addresses, ports, protocols, mess with DNS, degrade or prioritize certain traffic, or otherwise operate counter to RFCs, then the "service" you are providing is not "Internet".

Call it something else, I suggest AOL/Compuserve, and forgo any legal protections, subsidies or benefits that are given to real Internet service providers.

If not, you should be prosecuted for false advertising by the FTC or FCC or equivalent in your country.

Right. Like the proposition that admitting China to the WTO would cause them to democratize and dump the commies after they became prosperous. How’s that working out?

Good to see that everyone is fan of Milton Friedman and the libertarians.

Well played, sir! Your moderators have proven that /. does not have a sense of humor, either.

If 5% of global GDP is spent on reducing emissions?

Really, I want to know?

Let's see if it works seamlessly with Proton Mail.

Thank you for your considered responses.

My question regarding a contingency plan was the plan in the event of emissions not reducing. Your response is entirely about reducing emissions, which is not the premise. In my opinion, the likelyhood of emissions reducing sufficiently in the required timeframe, is very low. So a non-emissions contingency is essential.

I admire your optimism. We have been at this emissions reduction thing for some years now. How much have global emissions gone down?

I am happy about Sweden and the other nice nations. Maybe all the non-nice nations will copy them and all will be well.

BTW, if you need an example of a nation that has reduced its carbon emissions, look no further than the USA.

But just in case your Pollyanna-ish scenario does not pan out, do you have a contingency plan?

We continue with the delusion that reducing emissions is going to happen, and that it will reverse global warming. Also, that there is nothing else but this.

It was criminalized as a means of arresting Ku Klux Klan members, back in the day.

"Once you've built the big machinery of political power, remember you won't always be the one to run it." -- P. J. O'Rourke