There are a few well though out replies in here -- especially Katilian. I stand by my assertion that, at least in the U.S. (and quite a few other industrialized nations), Intellectual property laws were put in place to augment larceny laws to protect property of the mind. While the ideas surrounding intellectual property are indeed quite convoluted and complex -- (patents, trademarks, copyrights, program code, and so on are all are included in the IP category) the basic tenet is that it is, in fact, the property is solely controlled by the owner of said property and anyone using it, reproducing it, sharing it, etc. without permission is theft. There are a myriad of statutes, definitions, burdens of proof and other hurdles to jump over when it comes to identifying clear IP ownership, but they are definable, measurable, and most certainly enforceable.
There are numerous arguments that always center around the following:
-I wasn't going to buy it anyway so I'm not stealing.
-It is no longer available, published, in stores, etc. so I'm not stealing.
-If I try before I buy, I'm more likely to ultimately buy it - piracy increases sales.
All of these have been tried and debunked. Napster and its users tried these and other defenses but still got sued and lost. Pretty much everyone has lost in their battle against the RIAA. Why? The ownership of the IP was clearly measurable and definable.
To the poster above using the hypothetical "Jesus" story. Give us a break. You can't use something that isn't possible in today's society to provide a what-if as a defense. What if Aliens landed and stole it. Are they subject to U.S. or Federation of Galaxies copyright laws? What if there are no extradition laws on their planet?
I hate trolls.
Systems I currently own: 360, PS3, Wii, DS Lite (2)
Systems I've owned: PS2, PS1, Dreamcast, Saturn, 3DO, Genesis, Gamecube, N64, SNES, NES, GBA, GB, C64, Amiga, Atari 2600 and 5200, Sega Game Gear, Vectrex, Intellivision, Pong. Yes, Pong.
