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Originally Posted by RichL
You're saying there's a difference between stealing with intend to defraud and stealing just for the hell of it?
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He's saying there is no
theft if there is no
loss.
With a side order of, "profits are not guaranteed in any business venture." It is not "stealing" an author's profits to convince someone not to buy a particular book. If that were the case, critical reviews would be theft.
I mean, aren't reviews theft? You're taking something that doesn't belong to you--the attention people want to give to the original author--and using it for your own benefit, possibly profit. That's use of someone else's creative work, without permission, for personal gain.
The issue of what kinds of uses are allowed (review of the book) and what kinds aren't (movie based on the book) without permission has nothing to do with the core ethic of "is it okay to use someone's work w/o their consent?"
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Just out of curiosity how would you refer to a person that downloads and uses a product without paying for it. Say for instance a copy of TurboCAD Pro Platinum 18 which sells for about $1400?
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Depends on their use of it. Using it once a year for fifteen minutes in a class demonstration about the history of graphic arts programs wouldn't seem to be theft to me. Likewise, downloading it after full purchase and a computer upgrade, having lost the original box with the serial numbers, wouldn't seem unethical either.