Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew H.
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.
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You are equating copyright violation with stealing - people who conflate these two things are scum.