Quote:
Originally Posted by Liviu_5
That's not true; stealing a physical object deprives the owner of the use of an object; so you steal a book for Borders, no one can buy it; downloading a copy deprives the author/house of a POTENTIAL sale to the downloader ONLY; you download a copy, you may or may not buy the book, but you do not affect the action of others. Also let us not forget that as a downloader you may or may not have bought the book, or that in many cases you even own a copy anyway.
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But don't forget, a book isn't just about the paper, it's an
intellectual property... that's what you're paying for (plus extra for printing costs). If you steal a book, it's not considered illegal because you've deprived an honest citizen of buying it... it's illegal because
you took it without paying for it. And downloading a property that you did not pay for, and which you are legally expected to pay for, is just as illegal as stealing a book off the shelf.
That's why transcribing, or downloading for free (in some cases) is considered legal only if you already own the work, IOW, paid for it legally. "Potential buyer" doesn't enter into it.