Stop Calling it Theft
Whenever people refer to downloading music as stealing, I think to myself (and sometime out loud) copyright infringement is not stealing. It is not theft, and never was. People only call it that because of a mass campaign headed by the RIAA. Anyway, this Slashdot poster said it better than I can:
"Copyright infringement is not theft. The most obvious and conspicuous difference is that the former is civil and the latter criminal law. This has vast implications vis-a-vis the manner in which suit is brought, the possible penalties for the defendant, and the burden on the plaintiff. Another huge difference is that the latter involves denying the owner the use of an asset whereas the former involves unlawfully creating/distributing copies of a work. Copyright infringement and theft are not even closely related issues, and it's impossible to discuss them usefully without realizing that."
I completely agree with Sam.
I completely agree with Sam.
@prestor: Akin to theft in
@prestor: Akin to theft in what way? By your statement about being a programmer , I'm going to assume you mean morally. If you mean it's morally wrong, then ya, copyright infringement is akin to theft, at least to some degree.
But what I'm talking about is definitions of words and how things are treated legally. Civil vs. Federal court is a big difference that has it's root in the misunderstanding of what a word means.
Just like "theft" and "stealing" are being misused in this sense, the word "pirate" was never applied to people who copied tapes on their dual cassette players or recorded songs off the radio for personal use. "Pirates" USED to be people who copied all that content and then SOLD it on the streets for profit. Again, there is a big difference because not only is a "real" pirate infringing someones copyright, but they are denying someone of their distribution rights.
Again, here, the real criminal is breaking federal laws and international treaties, while pirates under the new definition are committing some kind of copyright infringement only. This USED to be a slap on the wrist offense, until Orrin Hatch got bought by big media and passed his PIRATE act. It's taken much more seriously now, but only because of corporate pressure.
I guess you could make the argument that the definition of the word "pirate" and "theft" has actually changed, based on actual usage, just like the definition of "marriage" has been changed in some states based on common usage. That is beyond the scope of this post though.
It's not theft. I'm with
It's not theft. I'm with sam. Still probably not morally correct, but it's not depriving somebody of something they have.
So you don't think
So you don't think downloading movies, software, music, etc. is akin to theft at all? I doubt you would feel that way if you were a programmer...
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