I think that's actually an accurate characterization of the legal system. I highly recommend this book if you're interested: https://www.amazon.com/Adversarial-Legalism-American-Way-Law...

As I said I'm basically in favor of the EFF's proposal. My beef is with their mischaracterization of the ESA's position; they're making them into a boogeyman instead of acknowledging that they have some legitimate interests here and looking for a way to bridge the gap.

Even then, I don't want to blame the EFF too much, but to critique the peculiarly zero-sum American appraoch to resolving conflicts of interest, as discussed in this excellent book: http://www.amazon.com/Adversarial-Legalism-The-American-Way/...