Just because the public wants something doesn't make it right.
Eventually, when enough people don't want to do something anymore, that becomes "wrong."
I'm not saying this is how it should rightly be, I'm just saying this is how it is.
I bet you eat animals that have been tortured and killed in factory farms, and you have a bunch of a really great justifications for that. QED.
As a vegetarian I feel that bringing out this argument (implying that a particular person is hypocritical -- and yes, I understand the societally-approved point), in response to a discussion on copyright patents, is below the standard of discussion I expect from HN. In general this discussion seems to include a lot of "no it isn't" / "yes it is" type bickering without much substance, and to be honest I blame the original article, which was content-free. Up above we have people arguing for the abolition of all intellectual property, and others claiming that mob rule is the basis for democracy. I don't see why the issue is such a binary one. Clearly the patent system needs reform. It's not at all clear that it needs to disappear entirely.
Notice that I don't pretend that the public opinion can't or shouldn't change. It did in the past, about slavery, colonialism, women rights, and many other matters. However I insist on the fact that after several decades of propaganda, legal battles and laws, the public still is unconvinced.