I thought the idea was if someone copied your bitcoins it was essentially a race to be the first to spend them. I guess if you're stealing bitcoins, though, you

I thought the idea was if someone copied your bitcoins it was essentially a race to be the first to spend them. I guess if you're stealing bitcoins, though, you're going to be quick to run them through a couple of transactions to claim ownership of them. (Of course, my understanding might be completely off-base.)