"Charles Brabham" wrote
"S. Sampson" wrote

"virtually irrelevant to an investment-centered economy."--
James V. DeLong, Washington DC based Lawyer, and
Director of the Center for the Study of Digital Property.

"Linux" (the OS) is about 1% of what you get in any Linux
distribution. snip

... which would have been a relavant reply if Mr. DeLong had said "virtually
irrelevant to an investment-centered economy." as a description of Linux.

I don't think he even mentioned Linux, but you did in the subject title.

The lawyers argument is merely that he believes there is a thing called
Intellectual Property (IP), and that it is worth billions in his industry.

What he's talking about is bigger than Linux. IP includes such things as
a car with a red exterior and a brown interior, and if you are the first to
select these colors, than Solicitors can bring you money. God help you
if you put golden arches or the Olympic rings on there as well...