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by Earw0rm 702 days ago
Totally agree, the difference is speed and scale.

Copyright laws didn't need to be invented until the printing press came along, because the act of copying was slow and difficult.

Not a fan of the patent model for software, for example, but perhaps this is an argument for it. Or, we just get used to the fact that idea-reuse is cost-free, accept a couple of decades of uncomfortable economic dislocation, and get on with it.