Answer THIS!

The people behind BoingBoing, that directory of wonderful and kvetchy and dumb things, often let their hatred of intellectual property rights blur their vision of what makes for an interesting post. One such rant posted today complains (not without justification) about the MPAA's push-polling, but then proceeds to quote a ridiculous list of counter-questions. Check it out for yourself.

Now, I feel that IP is a legally, ethically, and even mentally very complex issue, so I don't side with either the MPAA or the free-freakin'-everything crowd. But the following "gotchas" by MattyMatt are simply dumb by any standard:

If creative ideas are owned like physical objects, just like furniture, can I buy them at Ikea?

You can buy them directly from the makers (thinkers), or packaged in another way - from iTunes, Target, Barnes & Noble... And yes, when you buy furniture from IKEA, part of your payment goes to whoever came up with the creative ideas for their furniture, as compensation for their mental work.

And is it expensive for me to think of new ideas, because I have to pay for thought-materials and thought-warehouses and thought-customer-service?

Of course! Just try thinking creatively without making an investment of research, experience, and storage devices (they could be just pen and paper, or even simply your brain, which requires tangible and costly substances to function - namely, food).

If people should be compensated for their creative works, and creative works are the same as ideas, why isn't anyone paying me for all the ideas that I have every day?

Because you usually have non-marketable ideas, or you don't market them. Nobody pays all furniture-makers for all the furniture they make either.

I wouldn't have blogged about this if it didn't scream half-assed half-wit so loudly.