Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
[...]There's a big difference between taking something *away* from you, and changing the marketplace so that your efforts are no longer suitable for sale. While changing the marketplace might be wrong, and might even be a crime, it's not "theft."
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That may (or may not, I'm no lawyer) be technically/legally correct, but the effect on the victim is, or can be*, the same as theft. If I don't pay my plumber all I've taken from him was his ability to work somewhere else while he was working here (and maybe a bit of sealing tape). That may not be technical theft either, but the impact on my plumber may* well be the same as if I had taken the money from his pocket. It may not technically be theft, but the difference doesn't seem so "big" from where I'm sitting.
(*) I've seen the arguments about there wouldn't have been a sale anyway, or maybe my plumber didn't have any other work available at the time, but that is a presumption that the perpetrator is (usually) not in a position to make, and in most examples I've seen they don't really care anyway, it just sounds good as an excuse.