John J. Trammell wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 28, 2006 at 10:07:22AM -0500, Mike Miller wrote:
>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2006, Bob Hartmann wrote:
>>
>>> 3.  Stealing from Microsoft and Adobe is wrong.
>> (A) It isn't "stealing" because you are not taking anything away from
>> them when you make a copy of something.  It's not like taking
>> someone's purse.  It's more like taking a photo of someone's purse.
> 
> Utter nonsense.  In today's legal climate, regardless of your opinion of
> the matter, it is a prosecutable offense, and it is irresponsible of you
> to say otherwise.

Actually, you are now giving the utter nonsense.  Something doesn't have 
to be defined as stealing to be a prosecutable offense.  In the law, 
copyright infringement is not defined as stealing.

 From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_violation

"In Dowling v. United States (1985), the United States Court of Appeals 
for the Ninth Circuit held that copyright infringement does not "easily 
equate" to theft and unauthorized copies are not stolen property."

Of course, given the fact that the penalties are much harsher for making 
an unauthorized copy of something that it is to just go out and steal a 
copy off the shelf...  I wouldn't say that either is wise.

> 
>> (B) Microsoft and Adobe want you to do it.  It is much better for them
>> that you use their software without paying them than it is for you to
>> use other software (GNU/Linux, The Gimp, etc.) without paying them.
>> Sure, they´d rather be paid, but that is unrealistic when they charge
>> $750 for a product.  That means they are pricing most of us out of the
>> market on purpose.
> 

I agree here...  If they wanted to stop the unauthorized copies that run 
rampant at universities, especially, they could today.  Its not a hard 
technical problem.  The don't, because they know that what people learn 
to use in school is what they will ask their future employers to buy. 
If they stopped the piracy of photoshop, for example, a few years from 
now, they would have a whole new crop of graphic artists with no need to 
purchase it at their jobs, because they would be using free or cheaper 
alternatives.  Its a simple business decision.

Dan