[sycamoretrees]

No, I get it, I’ve heard that argument and I see the logic behind it. It’s a “victimless” crime.

There are two issues I can think of that I would lead one to different conclusions. The first is that of consent - do I consent to my hard work being used without any reference to me and my effort? Would I have made the effort in the first place if there was no recognition? The second is the following example: I quit my job to write an encyclopedia, something which is sure to benefit humanity. I toil day and night in order to one day sell it and get bread on the table. I finally publish it, but the next day another publisher copies it and sells it for cheaper (which they can afford, because they’re not paying me!), gobbling up my publisher’s market share and hence making me penniless, since the publisher has no money to pay me. Do I not deserve justice, considering the encyclopedia has sold a million copies and I am struggling to make a living?

The point is that the world is much too complex to draw a straight line between physical and intellectual property. A lot of us - and the vast majority on HN, I can imagine - work “intellectual” jobs in order to afford “physical” food.