Re: pirate bay, w3m, and the interface is just an interface (BEST post ever)

[Marcin Borkowski <mbork@wmi.amu.edu.pl>]

On 2014-12-14, at 06:45, Paul Rankin <paul@tilk.co> wrote:

> the truth is piracy is stealing from real people.

No.

1. It's not "piracy".  It's "illegal copying of stuff".  Piracy is when
I have a ship, and I'm attacking other ships, take prisoners etc.

2. It's not "stealing".  Stealing is taking a *physical* object away
from its owner so that he/she cannot use it anymore.

3. That said, I am not saying that illegal copying is legal (by
definiton, it's not) or moral (I am pretty confident that in many cases
it's not).  This is why I do not download music or movies from the 'net,
even though it is perfectly legal (at least in my country – provided I
do not distribute them further).  But fighting immoral deeds with
immoral propaganda (because that's what the "entertainment industry" is
doing: essentially they spread lies, like in the infamous "you wouldn't
steal a car" clip) is again, by definition, immoral.  And I do not
believe they have the artists' interest in mind *at* *all* (possibly
with very rare exceptions).

Best,

-- 
Marcin Borkowski
http://octd.wmi.amu.edu.pl/en/Marcin_Borkowski
Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
Adam Mickiewicz University