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This is shaping into a battle cry of the IP rent seekers: "[We fight against] foreign criminals selling counterfeit pharmaceuticals to Americans?" second only

by iwwr 15y ago

This is shaping into a battle cry of the IP rent seekers: "[We fight against] foreign criminals selling counterfeit pharmaceuticals to Americans?" second only to "think of the children" and "Save American Jobs Law".

bad_user 15y ago
The other weekend I somehow ended up seeing "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance 3D". Worst movie I ever saw in my life, but watch it, because the Ghost Rider considers illegal downloads a sin (line from the movie, can't reproduce the exact quote). Hollywood has been brain-washing people for years and we shouldn't underestimate their power of persuasion.
- jamesgeck0 15y ago
  To be fair, many major religions consider illegal downloads a sin also. What with breaking the law and all.
  - comicjk 15y ago
    Breaking the law is against someone's religion? Whose? I think the typical argument is by analogy to theft.
    - redthrowaway 15y ago
      "Render unto Caesar that which is due Caesar", etc. Most religions stress adherence to the laws of the land, except where those laws conflict with the edicts of the religion.
      - bad_user 15y ago
        As far as Christianity is concerned, that's a guideline, not a sin. Churches have been known to harbor and protect people that broke the law.
        jamesgeck0 15y ago
        Biblically, obeying the authorities set over you is a command from God, not a guideline. Disobeying God is sin, so disobeying the law is sin. The exception is when this obedience conflicts with other commands from God. Exactly where the line between respect for the law and conflict with God's commands lie is a favorite topic for Christian ethics debates, but probably not relevant to the linked article. ;)
      - zotz 15y ago
        > "Render unto Caesar that which is due Caesar", etc. Not all Christians have the same interpretation. I was taught in Catholic school that this meant that everything is God's and nothing is Caesar's.
        redthrowaway 15y ago
        It appears you are correct. [1] I was always taught that it was Jesus' way of telling his followers to obey the earthly laws (pay yo' taxes) only inasmuch as they do not conflict with the laws of Heaven. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Render_unto_Caesar...#Modern_interpretations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Render_unto_Caesar...#Modern_in...
        zotz 15y ago
        I was taught it in the context of Haggai, a book that would have been known by both Jesus and the Pharisees: 2:8 - "The silver is mine and the gold is mine, saith the Lord. Great answer to a trick question.
djcapelis 15y ago
Where "counterfeit" usually means totally legit pharmaceuticals overseas that someone in the US didn't make money off of (or enough money off of).
- raganwald 15y ago
  Up here in the Socialist Republic of Canada, the counterfeit drug criminals are so entrenched in power that when you fill a prescription, the pharmacist is required by law to offer you the counterfeit drug alongside the brand-name drug, usually at about 25% of the brand name drug’s price. Worse, the spin-masters in power have taken control of the conversation, everyone in Canada calls them “generic” drugs, as if molecules and atoms were identical to each other and there’s no difference besides the logo stamped on the pill and the label glued on the bottle. And we’re prisoners of the system, trapped in the endless nightmare of free health care.
  - SkyMarshal 15y ago
    Is the generic model enough to fund actual R&D for new medicine? Eg, if generic were legalized everywhere, including the US, and it undercut pharmaceuticals so much that they went out of business, would new drug development cease? Not that I'm a fan of intellectual property, but I do recognize that there are a few areas where the upfront investment to produce the product is so massive, and copying the final product so easy, that it might make sense to guarantee the profits for a period of time. Does the pro-generic side have any data or counterpoint to that?
    - jedberg 15y ago
      Back in the day before "big pharma", medical advances came out of Universities, many of them publicly funded. I think if the big pharma were cut off at the knees funding-wise, we'd see a resurgence in academic research. Which I personally think is far better, because typically (not always of course) academics will share and collaborate, instead of being in walled gardens.
      - 15y ago

by iwwr 15y ago

bad_user 15y ago

The other weekend I somehow ended up seeing "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance 3D". Worst movie I ever saw in my life, but watch it, because the Ghost Rider considers illegal downloads a sin (line from the movie, can't reproduce the exact quote). Hollywood has been brain-washing people for years and we shouldn't underestimate their power of persuasion.

jamesgeck0 15y ago
To be fair, many major religions consider illegal downloads a sin also. What with breaking the law and all.
- comicjk 15y ago
  Breaking the law is against someone's religion? Whose? I think the typical argument is by analogy to theft.
  - redthrowaway 15y ago
    "Render unto Caesar that which is due Caesar", etc. Most religions stress adherence to the laws of the land, except where those laws conflict with the edicts of the religion.
    - bad_user 15y ago
      As far as Christianity is concerned, that's a guideline, not a sin. Churches have been known to harbor and protect people that broke the law.
      - jamesgeck0 15y ago
        Biblically, obeying the authorities set over you is a command from God, not a guideline. Disobeying God is sin, so disobeying the law is sin. The exception is when this obedience conflicts with other commands from God. Exactly where the line between respect for the law and conflict with God's commands lie is a favorite topic for Christian ethics debates, but probably not relevant to the linked article. ;)
    - zotz 15y ago
      > "Render unto Caesar that which is due Caesar", etc. Not all Christians have the same interpretation. I was taught in Catholic school that this meant that everything is God's and nothing is Caesar's.
      - redthrowaway 15y ago
        It appears you are correct. [1] I was always taught that it was Jesus' way of telling his followers to obey the earthly laws (pay yo' taxes) only inasmuch as they do not conflict with the laws of Heaven. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Render_unto_Caesar...#Modern_interpretations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Render_unto_Caesar...#Modern_in...
        zotz 15y ago
        I was taught it in the context of Haggai, a book that would have been known by both Jesus and the Pharisees: 2:8 - "The silver is mine and the gold is mine, saith the Lord. Great answer to a trick question.

djcapelis 15y ago

Where "counterfeit" usually means totally legit pharmaceuticals overseas that someone in the US didn't make money off of (or enough money off of).

raganwald 15y ago
Up here in the Socialist Republic of Canada, the counterfeit drug criminals are so entrenched in power that when you fill a prescription, the pharmacist is required by law to offer you the counterfeit drug alongside the brand-name drug, usually at about 25% of the brand name drug’s price. Worse, the spin-masters in power have taken control of the conversation, everyone in Canada calls them “generic” drugs, as if molecules and atoms were identical to each other and there’s no difference besides the logo stamped on the pill and the label glued on the bottle. And we’re prisoners of the system, trapped in the endless nightmare of free health care.
- SkyMarshal 15y ago
  Is the generic model enough to fund actual R&D for new medicine? Eg, if generic were legalized everywhere, including the US, and it undercut pharmaceuticals so much that they went out of business, would new drug development cease? Not that I'm a fan of intellectual property, but I do recognize that there are a few areas where the upfront investment to produce the product is so massive, and copying the final product so easy, that it might make sense to guarantee the profits for a period of time. Does the pro-generic side have any data or counterpoint to that?
  - jedberg 15y ago
    Back in the day before "big pharma", medical advances came out of Universities, many of them publicly funded. I think if the big pharma were cut off at the knees funding-wise, we'd see a resurgence in academic research. Which I personally think is far better, because typically (not always of course) academics will share and collaborate, instead of being in walled gardens.
    - 15y ago