Mind fart. The analogy is so bad I don't even know where to begin. It's comparing an intellectually intensive, almost craft-like, infinitely complex piece of work to a physical resource that can be routed around.
[snip paragraph about capitalism/FOSS]
I also think open hardware and standards are much more important than software. They mean you can build anything you'd like yourself, while allowing developers to live off their work.
Also: Nobody can (physically) stop you from using electricity in a way that is not "approved" by the provider of your electricity. Of course they can. You can't rig a 330v outlet in your house without permission from your provider. Can't build a tesla coil in your garage either. Draw too much power and they will cut you off unless you switch to a commercial contract, if you're allowed. If I were into bad analogies I'd say here that it's like having a data cap. There is an intricate fabric of things related to economy, work, engineering, politics and society in general, the combination of those what makes electricity available in our homes. Same goes for software - you can't take how society works out of the equation.
Exactly how much power to you think a tesla coil uses...? O.o
Also, the primary reasons you cannot run (most kinds) of nuclear reactors in your garage have nothing to do with your power company (this said, if you do want to run your own powerplant and sell power back to the grid, you are more than free to do so... If you don't care about plugging yourself into the grid then you are even more free to do so). Similarly, FCC regulations on transmitter power are also questionably related.
"We're not even discussing the issue of free software anymore"
Thanks to your confused analogies, and what I'm not perceiving as some pretty fundamental misconceptions about basic electronics, yes... If you are going to attempt to argue your point with an analogy, and your analogy is broken, expect to be called out. That is just common sense.
10kv is not something I'd consider safe in a household.
That's throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I don't think this attitude is healthy around here - I'm not a native english speaker, and I know shit about electronics - the argument was completely ignored while I was hung out to dry because of a bad analogy.
Do yourself a favour and learn about electronics then before starting to debate what is possible in electronics with people who design and build electronics.
'getting started in electronics' by forrest mims is not a bad starting point.
10kv can be perfectly safe and is in the same ballpark as the static charges you get from nylon sweaters.
Also, funny you should mention nuclear reactors, there was a teenager on TED who built a fusion reactor in his garage who may be going to work at CERN.
There is no regulation to say you can't build yourself a tesla coil in your garage, and there is no law saying what voltages you are allowed to make from your supply.
