I can't help but feeling like if we're just going to be talking about copyright, we've jumped the shark.

I didn't say "We all must follow them" I said "When you live in a society, you have to live by that society's rules or face the consequences even if you disagree with the rules." There's a gulf of difference. One can have a debate on the justice of those rules and laws, but ask anyone that has openly defied those laws and been arrested, marginalized, or otherwise attacked as a matter of protest whether there are consequences to doing so.

However, I don't believe the wider issue is a topic for LWN. I put the comment there because the OP questioned who put the lawyers in charge. The answer is obvious. The society did, for good or ill. That's just the world we live in.