>In a civilized society, respect for the law must trump our endless appetite for convenient entertainment. You assume all pirating is for entertainment. In a

>In a civilized society, respect for the law must trump our endless appetite for convenient entertainment. You assume all pirating is for entertainment. In a civilized society - should the poor not have access to expensive research papers, books, and the right to self-education through these materials? Are those things that are reserved only for those who can afford it? Is that really a civilized society? One that ignores the poor in an every-increasing demand for individual wealth rather than communal wealth? There is a coffee shop where I live where you can "purchase" a coffee. The payment is whatever you feel the coffee is worth. Most people will pay $4-6 like any other coffee shop. Some people will feel generous or can afford to pay more. It's popular among the homeless and poor, because they can enjoy coffee and if they can only afford to give $0.50 they give $0.50, if they can't afford giving anything - the coffee is free. I think that's more civilized than denying the poor the ability to enjoy coffee simply because they aren't in a position to pay for it. I argue this would only fail in uncivilized places where everyone is abusive of the generosity and the affluent and wealthy are not generous with their wealth causing the coffee shop to quickly go out of business. But this depends on how "civilized" is to be defined.