It's not EBII but.....

[Shadowwalker]

capitalism itself wouldn't work, neither would modern medicine or any of the luxury things we take for granted (ipods/automobiles/quadruple-ply extra-soft mega thickness toiletpaper)

Without the intention to start any discussion about it I'd like to strongly disagree about this rather simplified world view*.
Medical knowledge is hoarded (search for "BAYER/Anthrax" or "South Africa/Anti AIDS generical medicine/G.W. Bush/WTO" for two very clear examples) and capitalism "works" for a minority of the world's population only (the exact percentage depending on - for example - how you define "life-threatening poverty" ).
Another thing: if only the copyright can make the world go round - how did mankind ever invent all the things up to the invention of copyrights, including clear luxury (for about the same percentage of people as nowadays)? ;-)

As I said - I don't want to start a huge discussion about this but there is a bit more to the "copyright subject"...
I agree to the general statement that copyrights are a good thing though.


(*No offense intended, Blxz - I just can't word it better.)