4 ms·
Theft is the substraction of goods. What you describe may be criminal behaviour, but it's not theft, the same way it's not breaking and entering.
by Fargren 16y ago
Theft is the substraction of goods. What you describe may be criminal behaviour, but it's not theft, the same way it's not breaking and entering.
- fauigerzigerk 16y agoBut in this case something is clearly subtracted, unlike in the case of piracy. Yet I'm not sure if industrial espionage is usually treated as theft.
- mooism2 16y agoThe secret is subtracted, but is not taken by someone else, unlike with theft. Instead it is destroyed. If you want to equate it to a physical crime, vandalism or criminal damage would seem to be a better fit.
- fauigerzigerk 16y agoYes, if the information is simply published vandalism or sabotage would be a fitting category. But if it is sold to a third party it is more similar to theft. In any event, it's probably much more useful to have a separate legal concept for "piracy" that does justice to the specifics of digital goods and the way they are used.