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Discussion on: Stealing Isn't "Sharing"

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byrro profile image
Renato Byrro

I guess his point is that copyright infringement is a different type of felony.

When you steal a book from B&N, you cause at least two losses:

1) They can't sell that same copy to anyone else;
2) Costs incurred in buying the book from the publisher won't come back;

When someone infringes copy-right by copy-ing the content from a digital book, they don't cause any of the two damages above.

I'm not saying copyright infringement is ok, you are totally correct, people must straight up and respect intellectual work. And infringement must be punished.

What I'm saying is that by labeling it as theft may make your augment loose power because, frankly, theft is a different type of felony.

It may make it look like you're trying to push something you don't really have a strong reason to support. In reality you do have all the reason to be mad at copyright infringement, so why use theft to make your argument stronger, when it already has strength?...

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codemouse92 profile image
Jason C. McDonald • Edited

I validly compare it to theft because the pedantics have to stop. The differences are minute.

When an illegal copy is made...

1) They can't sell a copy to the person who received the illicit copy. (Loss of sale, same result as your #1).

2) Costs incurred in creating and distributing the book won't come back (Measurable financial loss due to #1, same result as your #2).

So, no, on an abstract level, it is still a form of theft. You're giving away something you don't have the rights to give away: an additional copy of an eBook.

I do appreciate your thoughtful response. I just see the argument of "piracy isn't theft" as flimsy, legally questionable, and existent solely as a pedantic means of justifying a crime. The person with the pirated material directly gained from a measurable loss deliberately and directly inflicted upon another person. That is the most distilled definition of theft possible.

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moopet profile image
Ben Sinclair

I still disagree, but I respect your position.

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