Example: “Happy Birthday”
o Written by a school teacher in 1800s
o Now rights are owned by Time Warner until 2020
Should ideas become property? What might be the motivations?
o Jealousy, greed
o Profit
o Societal benefit
o Distribution
Is creating a work of art purely for profit something that can be considered manipulative?
o In this case, should they be given the right to intellectual property for so long if its being created for profit as these creations tend to be?
Copyrighting – When created, a copyright is automatically associated with the creative work.

Patenting
o Patents expire much sooner than intellectual property rights
o Human genome has been widely patented
o Drugs that can impact survival are patented – generics must wait until patent has expired to provide for much less money
Should organisms be patented?
o Drugs – penicillin is a common, useful organism
o Is right over that life automatically bad? Ex: organism used to break down crude oil has been patented.
What about differences in country laws?
o Child pornography – viewable in one country, but not another? In Soviet Russia CP watches you.
o Should an international standard be reached to prevent such discrepancies?

Topic: Burqas in France

Sarkozy announced in June that burqas were “not welcome” in France.

What are the possible benefits of banning dress and symbols such as the burqa?

• Women are not oppressed, treated like property
• Many women are forced to wear the burqa by family
• Reduce abuse in religious community due to visibility

What are the drawbacks?

• Revocation of the option to wear the burqa removes a right women previously had
• When you make something taboo, people cling to it – create an alternative, attractive culture
• Infringing upon the personal, non-offensive wear of the religious

Is the state justified in taking such action against personal religious symbols?

• Separation of church and state has benefitted the religious as well as the non-religious
• One must determine the infringement upon personal rights
• Is the law motivated by nationalism/overbearing secularism taking away personal right to religious expression?
• The secular members of society expect freedom from oppression – applying this same oppression to the way of life for the religious can be seen as hypocritical and counter-productive
• In a blanket ban on the burqa, you eliminate the choice of women who are not being forced to wear it
• Many women see the burqa for its original purpose – modesty to avoid being objectified

Why might France seek to outlaw the wearing of the burqa?

• Oppressive of women
• Hides identity of wearer – possible hidden threat
• Religious symbols are already banned in French schools – children cannot wear crucifixes or any other type of outward religious symbolism

We had a short ice breaker just for people to introduce themselves.  It was great idea as it gave the members a chance to interact a bit and learn about the new faces in the group. One of the best things about all these freethinker groups is the amount of diversity in the group. We have people coming from the Hasidic Jewish community, from the South and quite a few other interesting backgrounds. The new members seemed to have really liked it and the older members seem to be excited about the prospect of engaging in discussions with new people.

From the impression that I received, it seems very likely that SBU Freethinkers has doubled in size. Hopefully the interest stays high for the entire year and SBU Freethinkers can really establish itself as a visible force on campus.