Illegal Software/Downloads

[soybean]

If you wonder then a quick web search can clear up the fogginess and should answer any questions of denial.

Sharing entertainment files and proprietary software infringes the copyright laws in many countries over the world and you are putting yourself at risk of being indicted through organizations watching over the rights of the authors of such files (i.e. the RIAA for music files, or the MPAA for movie files in the USA) or the authors of the files themselves.

Further references found here, here and here.

I totally agree, evilfantasy.  And, there's an organization devoted to curtailing software piracy.  It's www.bsa.org.  They have some real power to take action resulting in serious legal consequences for violators. See http://www.bsa.org/country/Anti-Piracy.aspx

(Raw material in this case I suppose being disk space). That IMO is the major difference between physical theft and digital theft- the only thing the original owner doesn't lose the item, since the "thief" simply cloned it.

This is the typical flawed logic used to justify violating copyrights.  If you steal a tangible object, then yep, that's theft, but it's OK to steal intangible/digital/intellectual property.  This logic totally misses the point that someone's time and labor was expended to create that intangible property, just as someone's time and labor was expended to create a tangible good.

[patio]

4...3...2....

[macdad-]

1.....BOOM

[Dirigible]

piracy is a natural fact of free market capitalism.  I've always been poor; I've also always just had a contrarian streak.

I used to be a shoplifter.  I loved ripping off wal-mart etc.  if i couldn't affect the diamond companies etc, i could screw with the fence.  A few times we worked short games with them.  But I was young.  Now I just boycott.   That's far easier and more effective.   

I've ripped off 2 apps, 1 game, maybe 3 movies, and probably over 400GB of mp3's in all.  Oh and lots of books.  One of those apps I just wanted to try to see if it worked, cuz it was so expensive.  I had just read about warez in wikipedia. 

I know a lot of people who will pirate and album to see what songs they like, then buy those songs when available.   Besides piracy will only force security to evolve.  Champagne still flows.  I have paid for some, but I've also stole chickens.

[evilfantasy]

Sorry patio, rather than reply to that I've gotta beat you to it...

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

IMO should have never been started. *sigh*

[patio]

Thanx EF...