07-15-2009, 12:27 AM
(07-14-2009, 12:12 PM)Lavazza Wrote: In the case of books, the difference is that they are a physical good that cannot be replicated with a few mouse clicks. Since you would have purchased the book from someone, the book itself becomes your property, just like anything else. So if you decide to give it to your friend for free, sell it at a garage sale, or even just loan it to someone, there is nothing wrong with that because you are the owner of that item. But what you don't own is the right to copy and distribute the content (via Xerox machine, PDF scanner, etc.) to others, which is where copyright laws come in. By and large it's not a problem with books because people generally speaking don't want to read a book that has been printed out of a Xerox machine or squint their eyes at the computer screen, and people also like the experience of opening and reading a book.
But the same cannot be said of digital music files, where you are making an identical copy. A MP3 I get from iTunes is identical to the one I download with bittorrent. Therein creates the problem- you are not loaning your music to someone so that you do not have it when they have it. You both have it at the same time. Same thing can apply to computer software, movies, stock photos, and most other digital assets that are bought and sold.
I respectfully disagree. I think the 'physical' aspect of a book is irrelevant. It is the content that is important. A book can be copied digitally. EBooks are now quite common. I don't see a book as a physical object, like a table or a car. I see the content of the book - the thoughts, the knowledge, the story - as its substance. And that substance can indeed be copied digitally...or partaken of by simply borrowing the hardcopy of the book. If I have read the book, have I not partaken of its substance? Its substance does not lie in its physical paper pages or beautifully illustrated cover. Hence, I think loaning a book, and its being read by another person, is indeed equivalent to sharing music digitally. Hearing a song is akin to reading a chapter of a book.
(07-14-2009, 12:12 PM)Lavazza Wrote: I agree that this is bad, and that reform is needed. But in the interim, should we use this as a right to pirate music from the bad guys? As 3D Sunset said earlier, is it alright to do bad things to bad people? How does that make us better? Forgive me if I am making the assumption that you feel this way as you did not explicitly state this- but it is a common theme in the pirate community (I of all people should know )
No, I don't think pirating is ok because it targets the bad guys. I don't think anything is 'ok' just because the 'bad guys' are targeted. Nor have I said that pirating is ok. I haven't said it's ok or not ok, actually. I'm just exploring the topic.