I don't think the majority here advocates abolishing copyright (although a poll would clear that up). Many of us make their living due in part to copyright protections, nor do I think a sane person would think it could be abolished unless society changes radically.
I think many of us object to copyright extremism, as you point out. Dr. King certainly would never have guessed that someone could be extradited from another country to face jail time for publishing a link to an unauthorized copy of his speech. Yet here we are.
I think the majority here does favor copyright abolishment. I would hope I'm wrong but whenever the the subject of copyright comes up the vast majority of the comments talk about how we need to get rid of it, how all works should be free and in the public domain, etc. Especially when you bring money into the discussion I've seen everyone say that copyright is no longer necessary or helpful and we all need to find a way to make a living without it implying that creators should have no right to restrict how their works are used or distributed. I'm so glad this article was posted because it shows us the benefits of copyright.
I'm often downvoted to hell for comments like the one above and I'm really surprised its getting a positive response. Maybe a different subset of HN is discussing it. I don't hold an extreme position on this at all but I'm often a little afraid to speak my mind on this as I usually get a very negative response.
Also, many of us really do make a living thanks in part to copyright protections and to reiterate, I usually see and am responded to with comments saying that we shouldn't use copyright like that and should find another way. But not all works like that lend themselves well to models like paid support for free software or live performances instead of paid recordings.
Anyway, I'm relieved to see that people around here do see the validity of my argument.
I think many of us object to copyright extremism, as you point out. Dr. King certainly would never have guessed that someone could be extradited from another country to face jail time for publishing a link to an unauthorized copy of his speech. Yet here we are.