Philosophical Quandry: Piracy

[Erax]

You think you want to see the new Van Dam movie, but you aren't sure cause the Last one was a real dog. So you sneak in the back door and watch the movie. It's not like you are taking a seat that someone else needs. The movie isn't likely to sell out anyway. So technically I haven't lost any money if you weren't going to pay to see it in the first place.

It's a close enough analogy, and it reminds me of something that happened to my dad once (a story for another occasion, perhaps). I obviously haven't deprived you of anything (real or potential). So the only issue is, will I feel guilty about it afterwards or not ? Probably. But I wouldn't say I'd stolen something from you.

I just want to make one thing clear : when I said copying was different from stealing, I didn't mean one was OK and the other wasn't. They're just different enough to deserve different names. Like greed and avarice (from the copyright thread) : both are flaws, both are about money, but they're different.