Quote:
Originally Posted by HansTWN
 For those that don't want to pay, just stay away from it. Arguing semantics over whether it is correct to call it theft or not and what your intent is? That does seem like trying to make up excuses. The point is, downloading without paying is wrong. There are plenty of free or cheap alternatives, there is no need or natural right to have a particular book. And by now, due to aggressive campaigns by the industry, everybody knows that most "sharing" is illegal. So claiming ignorance really is not believable in any case. Not that it matters if you know you are breaking the law or not.
So while the word theft is not exactly right (if you closely follow the definition), theft is appropriate in that it has a strong, negative meaning. Nobody wants to be called a thief. If everybody used the word theft, I am sure that a lot more casual downloaders would think twice -- and that would be a very good thing. And whatever word is being used to describe the act of illegally downloading copyrighted material, it must be a word that clearly implies wrongdoing. |
The only trouble is, the guy(?) you quoted was writing from a standpoint that truly free software (as in OpenOffice and Linux) is the same as downloading an illegal copy of commercial software. It could also get in the way of people taking advantage of their freedom to choose software if they thing that all software has to be paid for and free open- source software is somehow inherently stolen or bootleg.
He also (inadvertently?) made some troubling commentary on the Hobbesian social contract and whether or not humans have any kind of moral obligation for mutual assistance, but the details would probably be lost on most people here.