Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!deimos.cis.ksu.edu!unmvax!charon!cs1552ao
From: cs1552ao@charon.unm.edu (Lazlo Nibble)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: Piracy
Message-ID: <5103@charon.unm.edu>
Date: 18 May 89 04:35:51 GMT
References: <113300063@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu> <10287@smoke.BRL.MIL>
Reply-To: cs1552ao@charon.unm.edu.UUCP (Lazlo Nibble)
Organization: Studio Nibble -- London * New York * Paris * Munich
Lines: 29

gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn) writes:
>>     Accepting a pirated copy of some piece of software doesn't make you
>> an indecent human being, it only reflects your opinion: whether the
>> designer's deserve the cost of the software, whether your $49.95 really
>> makes a difference to the sum, etc., etc..
>
> It's a moral/ethical question.  By my standards people who steal from
> others are immoral/unethical, i.e. indecent.

The whole piracy debate is a lot like the abortion debate -- most of
the arguing is an argument of definition.  Anti-abortionists think that
aborting a fetus is killing a human being, pro-choice people don't
think the fetus is human yet.  Pirates don't think copying software is
"stealing property" any more than pro-choice people think that abortion
is "killing people" and until there's an agreement on definitions both
arguments are nothing more than handwaving.

Personally I'm in the camp that thinks our copyright laws are horribly,
horribly outdated, and inadequate for the task that the information age
brings to them.  You have a situation where virtually every person in
the country has the capability to instantly duplicate things with the
mere push of a button, whether that button's on a computer, a tape
deck, or a photocopier.  Under those circumstances, I don't think that
the concept of Information As Property is going to be realistic for
much longer . . . if you can even really say it is right now.

                                               Lazlo (cs1552ao@charon.unm.edu)
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