Protecting the profit
by John Craig
The violence following the Danish cartoons is getting worse, and that makes it all the more important that we think hard about the issues it raises. For every virtue there are many vices - not brave enough is cowardice, too brave is foolhardy. Freedom of speech is similarly held in balance against the other values we hold most dear. And in the west it is not Christianity we hold most dear but capitalism. Far from being absolute, expression is tightly regulated by rules of intellectual property. Try representing the god of victory on something and selling it down the market. Every society has its idols and guards them fiercely - they protect their prophets and we protect ours.
