Quote from: Rassah on November 07, 2011, 03:16:28 PM

Here's a question though. If someone was selling me a car, and telling me how it has really nice features, is very reliable, and is a lot of fun to drive, but not allowing me to see it, then when I pay, say, $20,000 for it (average car price), it turns out to be an old, beat up, stripped down piece of crap that only goes straight forward and barely moves, is it fair that I am not allowed to return it, and the sales guy is legally allowed to get away with it?

My point with this is that intellectual property is the only type of product that once you absorb, can not be returned, and only one that can not be described objectively. Once you've read a book or heard a song, you can't pull it back out of your eyes and ears and return it like you can with physical goods. And once you have read a book, even if for free, there is no reason to acquire it any more, other than for reference, since you already know what it's like. You also can't describe it, especially with more objective terms, and instead have to rely on opinions. So while someone can falsely advertise how great a car is, if it's broken and sucks, and that's easily provable, I can return it and demand my money back. With intellectual property, if someone falsely advertizes a great movie or song, by simply experiencing it I have already absorbed it and can't undo the experience, and it sucking can only be a matter of opinion, since others might like it. So, with intellectual "property" I am not even subject to the same set of rules for property exchange as I am to real property.
(Which is why I often ignore the rules, experience the "property" first, and pay for an actual product if it doesn't "suck" and is something I'd like to own)