[waterlesscloud]

Of course, the point of laws and law enforcement is to cut crime, which this did.

[tsotha]

No, the point of laws is not to cut crime. The point of a law is reduce socially damaging behavior.

What is the point of this law?

[waterlesscloud]

To reduce socially damaging behavior.

It is anti-social to attempt to benefit from the work of others without compensating them.

[guard-of-terra]

Since when it is so?

I'm benefiting from the existence of the alphabet, Linux operating system or declaration of human rights without compensating their creators.

The best things, ones you really need, come for free.

The best things could not exist if they weren't, and we'd still be in the stone age with your mindset.

[waterlesscloud]

Linux wouldn't exist without a lot of compensated work that came before it.

But seriously, these are different categories of things we're discussing here, and that has to be be abundantly clear to everyone.

[guard-of-terra]

But still it isn't. A lot of entities benefiting from things in public domain but refusing to let their derivative works go, forever. They want to both use what the previous generations done and tax the future generations out their nose.

That's the true source of the problem, and the true source of copyright crimes: entities thinking they are entitled to many things for free, but still that everybody have to pay. There's no place for compromise.

If something is anti-social, that's what.

[waterlesscloud]

I'm not following your argument. Because the alphabet is free, Harry Potter should be free?

And I'm having a hard time seeing 15 dollar books and movies and 99 cent songs as "taxing through the nose".

[tsotha]

I'm not convinced this is socially damaging behavior. It's not at all clear to me the quality of cultural output would be higher if piracy disappeared overnight.

[tomp]

When 3% of society are criminals, you pass more laws in hope to stop the crimes.

When 30% of the society are criminals, your laws are wrong.

[mikeash]

That's foolish. If the only point of laws was to cut crime, you could trivially reduce crime to zero by legalizing everything. Clearly that is not the point.

[waterlesscloud]

It's a law intended to help reduce violations of another law.

It has succeeded in doing so.

[mikeash]

Perhaps. It's still not the point of laws in general to reduce crime, as I said.