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Copying is fundamentally less unethical than stealing. When you steal something you deprive its owner of actual property. When you copy something you deprive th
by spikels 12y ago
Copying is fundamentally less unethical than stealing. When you steal something you deprive its owner of actual property. When you copy something you deprive the copywriter owner of a potential sale. So not only is there no actual loss of anything often there would never have been a sale anyway. More like blocking the line at the cash register than taking the merchandise.
- brownbat 12y agoYeah, as noted by the Supreme Court in Dowling v. United States (1985), "...interference with copyright does not easily equate with theft..." For some reason people think this is a controversial copyleftist idea, rather than something the highest court has already acknowledged.
- MartinCron 12y agoDon't fall into the trap of thinking that "less unethical" means that it is actually ethical. Plenty of things that one shouldn't do have analogs that are much worse.