On Monday 24 April 2006 14:36, Jason Boxman wrote:
> steve szmidt wrote:
> <snip>
>
> > Taking something which is not yours is still theft, just not as bad as
> > other crimes. Haha. Not calling it theft is just plain silly. Many other
> > people like to alter the name to try to lessen their crime. But theft is
> > still theft
> > whatever you call it.
>
> Not really. Depriving another individual of a physical object is a very
> different scenario. Allowing copyright infrigement to be labeled theft
> makes it easier to assign ridiculous criminal punishments and a heightened
> sense of urgency.
True, all money is ours, but it still does not remove it from being theft. The
ethical definition of theft has nothing to do with stopping someone else from
using something but taking something which is not yours.
It's just a popular attempt to minimize the crime. You take something form
someone who can reproduce it instantly. Or don't even care that you did.
The ACTION was stealing. Theft.
You can try to rationalize it, put spins on it but you still took something
which was not yours. The fact that the owner does not care does not alter
what you DID.
It has nothing to do with what or whom, it's the act in itself. The sort of
juvenile discussions from students trying to rationlize away their actions.
Digital progress did not alter that. We put copyrights in place to give the
owner a chance to benefit from his work. Has nothing to do with whether it
was digital theft or phgysical theft.
That argument only shows that someone is morally inept.
> I'll argue further that you cannot deprive the copyright holder of
> intellectual property itself, the knowledge that comprises that which
> you're buying a license to experience, so it still is not theft.
Haha, sure. Tell that to the judge.
--Steve Szmidt
"To enjoy the right of political self-government, men must be capable of personal self-government - the virtue of self-control. A people without decency cannot be secure in its liberty. From the Declaration Principles ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
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