Even though you aren't stealing anything, the light from your neighbor's lamp is still limited. An even broader example is the flame of a candle. Fire is an un

Even though you aren't stealing anything, the light from your neighbor's lamp is still limited. An even broader example is the flame of a candle. Fire is an unlimited resource - if you light your candle from another, you have not only stolen nothing, but added more light to the world. This analogy applies to software - if you copy a piece of software, you are not depriving the owner of the software from their copy, just like the flame. Now software companies may complain that you are depriving them of revenue for their copyrighted bits. The same argument could be used with the original story - by using your neighbor's light, you are depriving lamp oil companies of their revenue. Clearly an absurd take, and I tend to think software copyrights are also absurd. I will organize the atoms and electrons in my computer's memory and storage how I damn well please.