4 ms·

> If everyone is allowed to steal books Nothing was stolen- just copied.

by temp51723 3y ago

jdm2212 3y ago
[flagged]
- gs17 3y ago
  That's not really the same, you could have a copy of my credit card, but you using it to make purchases would become an issue. Regardless, that quickly steps out of the domain of intellectual property.
  - jdm2212 3y ago
    If I use your copied credit card to buy software, all that happens is (a) some bits get written to my computer's hard disk and (b) some bits get written to a Visa or Mastercard server's hard disk. Why would you get upset about that? EDIT: ok, it's fun playing obtuse, but more seriously it is also very obtuse to pretend that intellectual property is not property. I think you have to be pretty stupid to not understand why an author who spends a decade painstakingly creating a work of literature is entitled to ownership of reproductions of that work.
    - gs17 3y ago
      It is not playing obtuse to think "I also have a copy of an ebook" is different from "I have literally stolen your property".
      - jdm2212 3y ago
        Unless the contents of the ebook are my property, in which case you have stolen my property.
xhkkffbf 3y ago
As a book author, I can say that, "Yes, something was stolen. My opportunity to earn a living taking care of readers." Now you may believe the incredibly self-serving baloney from big companies like Google. You may want to pretend that infringement isn't theft. To you, I hope that some homeless kid breaks into your home, starts squatting, and says that, "Hey, this isn't theft. Nothing has been destroyed."
- jazzyjackson 3y ago
  squatting monopolizes space, only one person can own it at a time cool thing about information is when you make a copy, you've doubled the information - plenty for everyone! if only housing worked the same way
- Etherlord87 3y ago
  [flagged]
- nimih 3y ago
  As a book author, what's your feeling on libraries, out of curiosity?
throw10920 3y ago
> Nothing was stolen- just copied. This typical semantic-pedantry line from piracy apologists misses the point - piracy is theft-adjacent even if you get to pick your use of "theft". Incidentally, my definition of "theft", and that of most content creators, includes the act of consuming something without compensating the creator on their terms - which includes piracy.
- akomtu 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - throw10920 3y ago
    "Pretty wild" - standard emotional manipulation. Not appropriate on HN.
- rightbyte 3y ago
  [flagged]
- rowanG077 3y ago
  A fundamental property of theft is that the action deprives someone of something they had. Piracy is not theft-adjacent. It has nothing do to with theft. It's a completely different concept.
  - throw10920 3y ago
    No, a fundamental property of theft is that it is the taking of that which does not belong to you - which clearly includes piracy.
    - rowanG077 3y ago
      That's an interesting thought. So when I overhear a conversation which was not aimed at me I am stealing. Quite an interesting definition with widereaching implication
schleck8 3y ago
Actually very much the revenue for each purchase that didn't happen this way was stolen. I'm not a pitacy Hardliner and don't see an issue with someone in a bad financial spot pirating things but this is bullshit.

> If everyone is allowed to steal books Nothing was stolen- just copied.

jdm2212 3y ago

[flagged]

gs17 3y ago
That's not really the same, you could have a copy of my credit card, but you using it to make purchases would become an issue. Regardless, that quickly steps out of the domain of intellectual property.
- jdm2212 3y ago
  If I use your copied credit card to buy software, all that happens is (a) some bits get written to my computer's hard disk and (b) some bits get written to a Visa or Mastercard server's hard disk. Why would you get upset about that? EDIT: ok, it's fun playing obtuse, but more seriously it is also very obtuse to pretend that intellectual property is not property. I think you have to be pretty stupid to not understand why an author who spends a decade painstakingly creating a work of literature is entitled to ownership of reproductions of that work.
  - gs17 3y ago
    It is not playing obtuse to think "I also have a copy of an ebook" is different from "I have literally stolen your property".
    - jdm2212 3y ago
      Unless the contents of the ebook are my property, in which case you have stolen my property.

xhkkffbf 3y ago

As a book author, I can say that, "Yes, something was stolen. My opportunity to earn a living taking care of readers." Now you may believe the incredibly self-serving baloney from big companies like Google. You may want to pretend that infringement isn't theft. To you, I hope that some homeless kid breaks into your home, starts squatting, and says that, "Hey, this isn't theft. Nothing has been destroyed."

jazzyjackson 3y ago
squatting monopolizes space, only one person can own it at a time cool thing about information is when you make a copy, you've doubled the information - plenty for everyone! if only housing worked the same way
Etherlord87 3y ago
[flagged]
nimih 3y ago
As a book author, what's your feeling on libraries, out of curiosity?

throw10920 3y ago

> Nothing was stolen- just copied. This typical semantic-pedantry line from piracy apologists misses the point - piracy is theft-adjacent even if you get to pick your use of "theft". Incidentally, my definition of "theft", and that of most content creators, includes the act of consuming something without compensating the creator on their terms - which includes piracy.

akomtu 3y ago
[flagged]
- throw10920 3y ago
  "Pretty wild" - standard emotional manipulation. Not appropriate on HN.
rightbyte 3y ago
[flagged]
rowanG077 3y ago
A fundamental property of theft is that the action deprives someone of something they had. Piracy is not theft-adjacent. It has nothing do to with theft. It's a completely different concept.
- throw10920 3y ago
  No, a fundamental property of theft is that it is the taking of that which does not belong to you - which clearly includes piracy.
  - rowanG077 3y ago
    That's an interesting thought. So when I overhear a conversation which was not aimed at me I am stealing. Quite an interesting definition with widereaching implication

schleck8 3y ago

Actually very much the revenue for each purchase that didn't happen this way was stolen. I'm not a pitacy Hardliner and don't see an issue with someone in a bad financial spot pirating things but this is bullshit.