Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
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).
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That's taking an *actual* resource from him: his time.
Comparing infringement to that would be like opening your own plumber shop, using his specialized methods, but undercutting his prices. Or telling everyone in town what a lousy plumber he is, so they won't hire him. In either case, you've destroyed his ability to profit, but you haven't taken away anything he already has.
If you're lying about his lack of skills, that's defamation and libel... but not "theft." Different crime, different penalties. Different enforcement methods--which is the core issue here.
The end result from the plumber's viewpoint may be the same, but the way to stop these offenses is different. There is nothing the plumber can do to "protect" his future profits from bad press. And, like that, there is nothing authors can do to "protect" their future profits from copyright infringement.
Pre-emptive crackdowns on everyone who *might* infringe, much like pre-emptive crackdowns on everyone who might slander a business, are (1) draconian and (2) unconstitutional in the US.
One of the ways to discourage infringement is to penalize it when it happens--in proportion to the damage it causes. $50,000-per-song penalties are so ridiculous that it dissuades nobody; it's like if we had penalties of 10 years in prison for saying "I don't eat at McDonald's because their food sucks."
Make the penalty for copyright infringement for noncommercial purposes similar to the penalty for theft--maybe a couple hundred dollars, for an album--and we might be able to reach an agreement that copyright infringement is "mostly like theft."
As it stands, in my state:
Penalty for shoplifting a book out of a store: infraction petty theft - fine less than $250.
Penalty for emailing an ebook to a friend: $200 to $150,000
If it's "just like theft," why the discrepancy in penalties?