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Originally Posted by mrkai
2. If someone makes a copy of my software and uses it without paying me for it...they haven't stolen the software from me. I still have it. I have NOT been deprived of my property.
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I would consider your intellectual product your property, whether it takes physical form or not (and as software, even a copy of software, it is in a physical form).
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrkai
3. NO ONE is entitled to software that is charged for without paying for it.
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Hallalujah. Thus endeth the lesson.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrkai
CONVERSELY...I do not have the "right" to be paid. It isn't a "right" in the true sense of the word, as I am not being deprived of property, but of income *potential*
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Again, you have had intellectual property taken from you without permission. Unless you agreed to that without compensation, I still believe you have a *right* to be paid for it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrkai
Copyright infringement isn't a technological problem...its a social/moral one.
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Exactly. Arguing about how many mouse-clicks it takes is being obtuse. This is an ethical issue, nothing less, and part of the Big Picture that we can't afford to ignore.
We are compromising principles, here... we are unilaterally sacrificing others' rights, we are declaring ourselves above others in our desires. We are the elite in the castle, saying that we are above the law simply because the peons outside can't get to us. Does that make it okay to copy others' files? No. It just makes it easy for you to get away with being less than a member of civilization.
(And tomorrow: I'm gonna eat
cake!)