Re: Napster destroys Western Civilization

On Thu, 18 May 2000, Dodi Schultz <schultz[_at_]compuserve.com> wrote:
>
> I suggested that taking something from me without my permission, even
> if the thing taken is not tangible (like a book or a CD) but something
> intangible (like my copyright or my reputation) is -- in a moral/ethical
> sense, even if not in legal terminology -- theft.

In that case, anything that's wrong is "theft." Lock me in a room? You've deprived me of freedom to move -- theft of my freedom. Cut across my front lawn? Theft of that part of my property for that period of time. Polluted excessively? Theft of my clean air.

If you want to make "theft" that meaningless, fine, you can have your own private definition of the word that makes it meaningless. But for those of us who prefer that our words provide meaningful distinctions, labeling infringement as theft is simply misdescriptive.

-- 
Terry Carroll         |   "The United States is located in
Santa Clara, CA       |   the District of Columbia."
carroll[_at_]tjc.com       |
Modell delendus est   |       Uniform Commercial Code s. 9-307(h)