Would Mindclones Have Rights?

Would Mindclones Have Rights?: "What is the path of philosophical and political struggle ahead of us to secure the rights of virtual, uploaded persons?

Living is dangerous to one’s health. One of the greatest dangers is from other conscious beings. There is a romantic notion that civilization or society caused a genetically mellow homo sapiens species to become violent. But studies of surviving indigenous communities show the notion to be false. It has been estimated that two-thirds of modern hunter-gatherers are perennially in violent conflicts amongst themselves such that “25-30% of adult males die from homicide.” The development of laws and precursor concepts of human rights save vast numbers of lives.

Conscious software will similarly enter the world with a fragile claim on life. Absent protective laws, the creator of a piece of conscious software is free to stuff it into biostasis (save and close it) or kill it (delete it). To the vast majority of people, vitology is not even considered alive. Perhaps this gives it even less hold on life than the countless microbes, plants and animals we kill every day. On the other hand, perhaps this gives it the status of a unique, inanimate, unthreatening and therefore protected work of art."