On IP extremists

From an article on Lawrence Lessig (co-founder of Creative Commons) and intellectual property extremism:

Silicon Valley needs to step up and protect the open traditions that have helped build the high-technology industry or run the risk of being dominated by “IP extremists” whose restrictions on the use of intellectual property (IP) would stifle innovation, Stanford Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig told an audience of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, lawyers, and venture capitalists at the Open Source Business Conference here Tuesday.

He also mention’s America’s pirate past:

In reality, Lessig said, the U.S. has long held a balanced approach to intellectual property. Until 1891, for example, the United States did not observe international copyright laws, and until 1976, the vast majority of intellectual property created in the U.S. was not protected by copyright, he said. “We were born a pirate nation,” he said.