Why reinvent the wheel when all you want to do is improve it? Why should people stand in the way of progress because of a "legal privilege" that in fact violates the real property rights of others?
Suggested reading: Against Intellectual Property, by IP attorney Stephan Kinsella: https://mises.org/library/against-intellectual-property-0
Let me think about it for a couple of days. I like this debate, but I do not want to rush into conclusions without looking at the bigger picture of things.
Thank you both for the nice conversation, keep me posted :)
Understandable. It is a complicated issue, and I did not arrive at my current beliefs on the subject without considerable time and thought.