[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]
> > Piracy requires theft and theft is defined in terms of property - > > software is not a physical thing, it does not exist in physical terms, > > it is merely stored on physical media sometimes. Software is not > > property and cannot be judged under crimes defined in terms of > > property. When you download a file from my website, you have not stolen > > that file - I still have the original - so how can that ever be deemed > > theft? Does this mean that e-books can never be property? Does software only become property if the code has been printed in a book? Or are we only considering binaries, which I would argue are physical objects? Come to think of it a novel isn't a physical thing, only stored on a physical medium sometimes. Not that I'm defending patents for software, just that the above statement throws up some interesting philosophical problems. In Marxist terms value is created by labour, the way the value is stored or represented is neither here nor there. Simon -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html