My answer is that there already exist human laws that do measure this I would say you could examine those.

The law can be, and often is as I see it, wrong.

What I opposed originally was you arguing from nature.

I did indeed choose my words poorly in that case.

As far as the ownership of ideas, I think we are going to continue to be at odds with one another. I have not seen reason yet to abandon my assertion that once you put an idea out there, you cannot expect to control what others do with it. IP law as it exists seems to me to be an impediment to innovation and the free exchange of ideas, something which I value more highly than on one individual's pride over the assumption that they were the first to present an idea to the world.

One of my favorite things about the internet is how much it has done to destroy the concept of intellectual property.