[nzlug] PCWorld Anti Piracy

[Robert Coup]

On 08/01/2008, Nick Rout <nick at rout.co.nz> wrote:
>
> The problem with equating copyright infringement and "theft", from a legal
> point of view, is that our legal concepts of theft have traditionally
> dealt with physical things, not intangibles like intellectual property. In
> fact electricity is something that is specifically mentioned in the
> legislation as being "capable of being stolen", because traditionally you
> couldn't steal it.


And to spell it out really clearly for an explaining-to-friends point of
view:

Copyright infringement and theft aren't the same because:
When I steal your car, you can't use it anymore.
When I copy your CD, you can still use it, and so can I.

(I'm not saying IP is bad or copyright infringement is good - just pointing
out that calling it theft is very misleading)

Rob :)