Quote:
Originally Posted by Xanthe
"Pirates"
"Scum"
"Lammer/lamer"
"Hoarding pirate"
"Intellectually dishonest"
"Book stealers"
"Selfish"
Interesting to see the judgements some here are passing on their fellow members. Apparently it's very unsettling to come into contact with people whose lives have developed differing moral and ethical codes, and who feel that their codes are just as valid as that of those passing judgement.
Why, it must be The-End-Of-The-World-As-We-Know-It.  |
Again, you are equating stealing with being called a thief, as if they were the same thing. They aren't. Stealing is wrong. Calling someone who steals is not wrong. You don't seem to understand this distinction.
Put another way, ripping off authors is not a lifestyle choice, like, say, being a Baptist. If I called someone scum for being a Baptist, obviously I should be criticized for that, since their decision doesn't affect me or anyone else.
But stealing books *hurts people.* It's hurts authors, it hurts editors, and it hurts many other people who *worked* to produce the book. You can pretend that stealing books is a "philosophy," but in reality it is an *activity* that hurts *real people,* with lives and such. That's what I (and others) are critical of, and why complaints that you are being "judged" don't have much traction.
Yes, not every downloaded book would have been a sale, etc. And there are some other grey areas. But you have to be deliberately obtuse to believe that many people aren't just stealing books because they don't want to pay for them.
So, yeah, stealing books hurts people. People who hurt others for their own gain are scum.