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by temp51723 1074 days ago
> If everyone is allowed to steal books

Nothing was stolen- just copied.

3 comments

> Nothing was stolen- just copied.

This typical semantic-pedantry line from piracy apologists misses the point - piracy is theft-adjacent even if you get to pick your use of "theft". Incidentally, my definition of "theft", and that of most content creators, includes the act of consuming something without compensating the creator on their terms - which includes piracy.

A fundamental property of theft is that the action deprives someone of something they had. Piracy is not theft-adjacent. It has nothing do to with theft. It's a completely different concept.
No, a fundamental property of theft is that it is the taking of that which does not belong to you - which clearly includes piracy.
That's an interesting thought. So when I overhear a conversation which was not aimed at me I am stealing. Quite an interesting definition with widereaching implication
As a book author, I can say that, "Yes, something was stolen. My opportunity to earn a living taking care of readers."

Now you may believe the incredibly self-serving baloney from big companies like Google. You may want to pretend that infringement isn't theft. To you, I hope that some homeless kid breaks into your home, starts squatting, and says that, "Hey, this isn't theft. Nothing has been destroyed."

squatting monopolizes space, only one person can own it at a time

cool thing about information is when you make a copy, you've doubled the information - plenty for everyone! if only housing worked the same way

As a book author, what's your feeling on libraries, out of curiosity?
Actually very much the revenue for each purchase that didn't happen this way was stolen. I'm not a pitacy Hardliner and don't see an issue with someone in a bad financial spot pirating things but this is bullshit.