Quote:
Originally Posted by Logseman
I'm not very sharp in Law Studies, but wasn't there a Latin principle stating "in dubio pro reo"?
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You mean along the lines of "if the receiver was unaware that the goods received were stolen then they can not be held liable"? This is where people get confused. Up until recently most people looked upon piracy of digital media being the same as stealing physical goods. Well they are in fact completely different.
With the act of stealing a physical good, there will be someone who has lost something of value. So if you had a chair and I came in one night and took your chair you have lost something of value and it will cost you money to replace it.
With digital media it is different. If you publish an electronic book and I download a copy from a torrent site, I have not stolen goods from you, you do not need to spend money to replace it. What I have done is breach copyright legislation.