| Rpruett said: It all depends on your definition of stealing. Is copying a file stealing? Can you really prevent copying of files? Tons of people copy VHS tapes, TV Programs, etc. For example, if you have ever been to Washington DC and saw the Constitution. Have you ever saw some of the replicas? Are people who sell replicated Constitutions stealing or copying? There is a difference. If I created a machine that could make perfect copies of items....Would I be stealing these items or just making copies?
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The definition, is what you are stealing is the intellectual property. If someone thinks something up, they have the right to it. It belongs to them, and can choose to profit off it or not. If you consume their ideas, through executing code, listening to it, or watching it, without their permission, you have stolen something.
Copying the file is not stealing. Consuming the information without the consent of the creator is. Now you can argue if that should be the law or not, but for now, it’s the law.
