Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
In the case Dowling v. United States (1985), lawyers maintained that while copyright infringement had indeed occurred, the bootleg records with which the case was concerned were not "stolen, converted or taken by fraud." Then again, Congress seems to like the word "theft"; as in "The Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999" and the "No Electronic Theft Act of 1997".
Me, even though my grandfather was a lawyer and knew all the fine nuances between burglary, larceny, theft, and copyright infringement; I'm a simple fellow. In my book, a fellow who takes something what ain't his is a thief. And thieving ain't right.
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Amen.
Like I said, people who want to say that piracy is not theft are doing so because they want to feel better about the activity. If you are taking something that you have not been given as a gift or purchased, you are stealing. There are nuances in the law that might allow you to legally call it something else but you are stealing.
The author has a right to be paid for his work. If you are chosing to take the work and not pay for it, you are depriving the author of his/her money. You are stealing.
Fall back on the legal definition all you want but you are trying to pretty up what you are doing.