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Pluralistic: "If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing" (pluralistic.net)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The ability to change features, prices, and availability of things you've already paid for is a powerful temptation to corporations.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Not a lawyer, but most of what you said is true, except:

then it’s not possible to copy that data without depriving the creator of its value.

We're talking about the theoretical value the creator might get if you decide to pay for something. If you never had any intention of paying to access something if you couldn't find a pirated copy, no value has been lost by the creator due to copying the data and therefore no harm has been done. The requirement for criminal liability should be that a harm has been inflicted by you beyond any reasonable doubt. Piracy as a deprivation of monetary value can not ever meet this requirement. Of course, the actual requirement is that you have committed a crime beyond reasonable doubt, so if corrupt legislators make piracy a crime, the justice system can obviously charge you with it despite it being victimless, hence the scam.