Consti-what? :: January 23rd, 2004 ::
So as many of you know, I worked in the tech industry for about five years before coming to law school. After being here for a little over five months, I’ve developed a particular affection for Constitutional Law. Both those factors make this post on Lessig’s blog on SCO’s assertion of the unconstitutionality of the GPL particularly interesting. My favorite part? Where Lessig states that no one can violate the Constitution simply by writing a contract. But more generally: the Constitution was intended to be a restraint on state power and, the 13th amendment notwithstanding, does not address the actions of individuals. So who knows, maybe SCO will next attempt to show how the GPL enslaves people?
But seriously. I think there’s enough meaningless chatter about the constitutionality of just about the actions in which people choose to freely engage. With all the noise, I can’t help but worry that legitimate constitutional claims will be lost.
