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Ok I'll bite. By the very fact that you'd take it, it means it has some value to you. Of course you are going to take something for free that you believe has no
by lbrandy 18y ago
Ok I'll bite. By the very fact that you'd take it, it means it has some value to you. Of course you are going to take something for free that you believe has non-zero value. If you are taking something for free that has value to you, you are profiting. How is that not stealing?
- decode 18y agoIf the definition of stealing is "taking something for free that has value to you", then I steal with every breath. If copying is the same is taking, then telling a story is the same as burning a book.
- Herring 18y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality Thinking of it in terms of morals is rather unproductive. It's just one of the ways markets fail.
- DougBTX 18y agoStealing is when someone has something that they value, and you take it from them. It doesn't matter how much you value the object. What matters is that they value the object, and that after it is stolen, they no longer have it. Are you really saying that if you profit without paying for something, then you must be stealing? What if you have some wood, and you make a table out of it. You've profited by the difference in price of a table and a pile of wood, but you've not paid anyone for anything. Who have you stolen from?
- gaius 18y agoWhat if this wood was a tree in someone's garden? They have a sign up that says "help yourself to apples", they must mean it's OK to take the whole tree, right?