Most lawyers hold that violations

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

TopicsFlaw

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Stimulus

Most lawyers hold that violations of the rights of those who possess sites on the web are best prevented using copyright law. Yet many of the words used to describe such sites evoke ideas that are usually associated with real estate: for example, the word “site” itself and the term “visiting” as reasonable to extend that law to protect against encroachments on property in cyberspace.

What this question is testing

Flaw

Conclusion

Trespass law should apply to the internet. Because they are called "sites" and people "visit" them, just like real estate.

Evidence

Same words, therefore same laws. That is the entire argument.

Evaluate

By this logic, since people "drive" Google Drive, a driver's license is needed to use it. Since people "stream" movies, fishing regulations apply. The analogy is built entirely on vocabulary overlap, not on any substantive similarity between web sites and physical property.

Goal

Find the answer that calls out the verbal-only analogy.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question

The reasoning in the argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds

Answer choices

Out of Scope12% picked this
fails to provide adequate evidence that property in cyberspace is widely considered to
The argument does not claim cyberspace property is "widely considered to be real estate." It draws an analogy based on shared terminology. This answer addresses a stronger claim than the argument makes.
12%
Circular Reasoning3% picked this
has a premise that presupposes what the argument attempts to show
No premise presupposes the conclusion. The premises about shared terminology and trespass law's real estate application are factual claims independent of whether trespass law should apply to cyberspace. The flaw is a weak analogy, not circular logic.
3%
Self-Contradiction2% picked this
itself provides significant evidence against the conclusion that
The evidence does not contradict the conclusion — it is just weak. Shared terminology provides some minimal support for the legal analogy, not evidence against it. The problem is insufficiency, not self-contradiction.
2%
Correct83% picked this
fails to provide evidence that the similarities that constitute the analogy are anything
Why this is right
This precisely identifies the flaw. The argument's analogy between web sites and real estate rests entirely on shared vocabulary. No evidence is provided that web sites and real estate share substantive characteristics relevant to legal treatment — such as exclusive possession, physical boundaries, or interference with use. The answer correctly states that the argument fails to show the similarities go beyond verbal coincidence.
Skill tested: Flaw · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
83%
Ad Hominem1% picked this
defends a view solely on the grounds that the view is held
The argument challenges the lawyers' view (copyright law) in favor of trespass law. It does not defer to expert opinion — it contradicts it. This answer reverses the argument's relationship to authority.
1%

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