Quote:
Originally Posted by moz
Context dependent. If you said "in the USA taking a physical good that is for sale without paying is stealing" you would be correct. But watching a television in the UK when the license fee has not been paid is not stealing. Both are "taking" as you're trying to define it.
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Since I don't know what the "licence fee" you describe is for, exactly, I cannot answer that. But if the fee is for the TV itself, and it was not paid, then what is it that you've done by watching the TV? If the fee is to pay for delivering the content to the TV, and you didn't pay for the content, what have you done by watching the content on the TV?
If, in the U.S., you watched a TV connected to a cable content delivery system, and you did not pay the cost of the cable, you would be guilty of stealing the cable's signal. (Even if they couldn't prove you actually watched the content... just having it hooked up is enough.)
Just a comment: This thread is entitled "Piracy vs Bookstores." If it is going to become just another "your piracy isn't my piracy" discussion, this subject will go nowhere fast.