Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
What exactly do you mean when you say "traditionally"? The use of the word "pirate" to describe someone who copies a printed work without the author's permission goes back to at least 1603 (Thomas Dekker's booklet "The Wonderfull Yeare", in which, attacking the common practice of reprinting works without permission, he says "Banish these Word-pirates, (you sacred mistresses of learning) into the gulfe of Barbarisme..."). The term is used in the 1886 International Berne Copyright convention, in which Article 12 states "Pirated works may be seized on importation into those countries of the Union where the original work enjoys legal protection."
You really can't write off the use of the term as some modern coinage, I fear.
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Interesting I didn't know any of that. In my own experience I can't remember it being used that way until relatively recently - or let's say that if you said "Pirate" 10-15 years ago I'd think eye-patch and parrot before I thought of dodgy videos or whatever.
That said and whilst I think Stallman has a point, names are important and if you can set the terminology then you can set the terms of the debate somewhat, I think the ship has sailed. What has happened is that piracy as unauthorised copying has become both common usage and commonly done. So anyone who claims to be offended by the moral implications is protesting a little too much I think.
Still thanks for coming back with an actual argument rather than "I dismiss this out of hand because I don't like some of the other things your source said."