Quote:
Originally Posted by meeera
Firstly, copyright infringement isn't theft.
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It is, because the law has been written in such a way that the producer of intellectual property owns that property and can control the use of it. Now the law may be flawed, wrong-headed, or even just plain silly, but that is what the law says. When you infringe the copyright, you are taking that control away from the creator of the intellectual property. It is not the content itself you are stealing, but the right of the creator to control the distribution of their content.
Most DRM controls are in place to ensure that you do not become a content distributor. Just as you're not allowed to go into WalMart, buy a book and then photocopy 100 copies to give to your friends, DRM is intended to keep you from creating 100 copies and giving them to all of your friends. As implemented, however, you can't resell your DRM-managed book. You can't lend it to whomever you wish, for however long you wish. Those are things you can do with a physical book without permission from anyone. But while the expense of creating your own physical copies of a book serve as a deterrent to becoming a content distributor, it is very easy to create and distribute copies of a digital work.
As a content creator and consumer myself, I have sympathy for both sides of the debate. I want to be justly rewarded for my efforts in creation. And I want to be able to use an eBook exactly the same way I used a pBook.
For me, I only buy eBooks that I expect to be disposable in nature, or where the portability or searchability justify the expense. So, for instance, I have a physical ESV Study Bible that I use to study at home, and carry with me to church. But I also have a DRM eBook of the same, so that when questions come up and I'm not near my physical book, I can whip out my phone and access the same content. However, the eBook was 1/3 the price of the printed volume, which is a savings I both appreciated and rewarded.