Satan's Anus wrote:
rio wrote:
For a start, we already established long ago that dl-ing is not "stealing", and keeping on referring to it as such makes you sound hysterical.
This is flat out wrong. Downloading is stealing. Only downloaders insist it's not. .
Nah. It's not "flat out" anything, because there is a massive legal grey area aroung the whole thing. Theft is usually defined as taking something with the intent to permanently deprive its owner with the use of it. From wiki:
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The actus reus of theft is usually defined as an unauthorised taking, keeping or using of another's property which must be accompanied by a mens rea of dishonesty and/or the intent to permanently deprive the owner or the person with rightful possession of that property or its use.
Downloading is copyright infringement. It may sound like an irrelevant disctinction, but two points:
1. I don't know about the US, but in the UK copyright infringement, if it is for an individual's own entertainment, is a civil rather than criminal offence.
2. More importantly, it means that you going on about "stealing" and all that crap is not just innacurate, but pointlessly inflammatory and unjustifiably "holier than thou". You're deliberately using language which enables you to sit in judgement on people using the most hyperbolic terminology possible. Even if it doesn't clearly apply.
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What you're suggesting is a selfish endeavor. I have no doubt that Noodles loves his stolen music. To suggest, however, that a person who steals something places the same value on it as someone who actually has to sacrifice something of their own to acquire it is what is logically absurd
How so? If I steal an apple (ignoring the erroneous comparison, because dling is not stealing), do I value that apple any less than had I paid money for it? Maybe, maybe not, but you have no possible way of knowing for sure, and the fact that I stole it is by no means an indication that I don't value it. If I get into a gig free because I know the venue owner, does that mean that I will necessarily enjoy the gig less than someone who paid full price?
Now, it might well be true that buying as opposed to dling something is an
indication that you value it more, but that's not the same thing.
As a matter of fact, I do see your point and agree with bits of it. Yes, having 1000 albums available for free at the touch of a button is likely to make someone value music less. But I don't think you're in a position to go round telling people how much they personally do or do not value something, based on whether they paid for it or not.