Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Are you really unaware of the fact that "piracy" is the popular expression used to refer to the activity of unlawfully copyright copyrighted material, whatever other meaning the word may have? I'm sure you're not, so why try to pretend otherwise?
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Sure, and that's really the point of my post. As you state, piracy in this context is not theft. It's the unlawful duplication of copyrighted material. Material theft of a finite good is not legally equivalent to copyright infringement. The original poster goes beyond the use of the generic term "piracy" and brings theft into it, further reinforcing this implied equivalence, and leading to my need to respond.
I chose to point out this factual inaccuracy through sarcasm, as you are probably aware.
Words are weapons, and buying into the rhetoric of one side or the other undermines our ability to have meaningful discussions of right and wrong, of illegal and legal. And those are important discussions, since copyright is a balance of liberties and incentives between creators and broader society. We all have a stake, since the collective act of granting or extending copyright also infringes on the liberties of each and every one of us.
Not saying that limited copyright is wrong, but I am saying that I'm as entitled as anyone to care deeply about rhetoric that equates theft and copyright infringement. These words have real impacts that are played out in politics and government. Sadly, the fact that the word "piracy", as you say, has been misappropriated to refer to copyright infringement has certainly contributed to a number of laws that take away rights from all of us.
In fairness to the OP, I must also commend him or her for a number of thoughtful subsequent comments on the issue.