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I disagree. I think most Americans see stealing from companies IP as a mostly victimless crime... I doubt they are concerned about stealing from a foreign compa
by meddlepal 13y ago
I disagree. I think most Americans see stealing from companies IP as a mostly victimless crime... I doubt they are concerned about stealing from a foreign company which they see if interact with little or never; see piracy for a small scale example of this. Not to mention American companies benefit from it and it can have a positive effect on the economy if revolutionary tech is discovered this way.
- ItendToDisagree 13y agoBut would they have the same viewpoint of Industrial Espionage committed against the USA by a foreign government? The parent mentions it generally (it seems to me) and that it is not something that a government should be part of. The stealing of secrets by one company or another is vastly different than a concerted effort by a government (USA/France/China) to do such things.
- meddlepal 13y agoNo I don't think they would be ok with the inverse but that is why this is espionage... It's dirty business. Also I wouldn't assume people have an internally consistent view of these things. It will likely boil down to "it's ok because it might benefit me, but screw the others for trying the same thing"
- betterunix 13y agoMost people I have met see copyright infringement as a victimless crime only when it is being done by "little people" and only when there is no profit involved. When a large company is profiting from copyright or patent infringement, people generally think that company is in the wrong and the the artist/author/inventor should be paid.