For those who like to compare copyright infringement to theft, here goes my take:
Suppose a neighbor of buys that new awesome European car, great style, full option . The car is instant hit among neighbors, since they all suffer form products of Detroit Big Four. `Chicks dig him', so to say.
Enter copyright infringement.
One night you venture near the car, wielding necessary tools, dark clothed and masked. You write down every detail carefully. You visit local distributor next morning, you order exact same car, down to last detail. Later on you show off, driving in it around.
Will the neighbor be angry at you? Surely you deprived him of some of the car's value (uniqueness).
Yet you stole nothing anything from him. You copied information. No theft of property.
Is this example legal? I guess it is.
Is this morally OK?
What if the neighbor in question lived off of a business model based on having the best car around (scarcity, perhaps artificial)?
Suppose a neighbor of buys that new awesome European car, great style, full option . The car is instant hit among neighbors, since they all suffer form products of Detroit Big Four. `Chicks dig him', so to say.
Enter copyright infringement.
One night you venture near the car, wielding necessary tools, dark clothed and masked. You write down every detail carefully. You visit local distributor next morning, you order exact same car, down to last detail. Later on you show off, driving in it around.
Will the neighbor be angry at you? Surely you deprived him of some of the car's value (uniqueness).
Yet you stole nothing anything from him. You copied information. No theft of property.
Is this example legal? I guess it is.
Is this morally OK?
What if the neighbor in question lived off of a business model based on having the best car around (scarcity, perhaps artificial)?