Juan wrote:
Ah, but that "little caveat" is what makes the whole difference. If you take the Jaguar, the dealer has one less car to sell. If you duplicate it, maybe even your neighbor will like it, and will go out and buy a Jaguar for himself, thus benefiting the dealer.
I just don't see that as being likely (maybe I don't understand what you mean). If I steal something, I have no incentive or likely intention to purchase it. If I duplicate something and my neighbor gets it for free, they have little incentive to purchase it. If someone gives me a free Jaguar, I won't go purchase one. Same works for intellectual property.
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Just to add my bias to the whole thing, I think corporations in general are at no risk of suffering much from our doings. If anything, we need to protect individuals from corporations, and not the other way around.
In general, I think copyright law has gone out of control, and it is now something far beyond what it was intended to do.
I agree in general. I also think the maker of a product has the right to make a profit by selling that product. Any unauthorized distribution of that product cuts into potential sales and profits. Since making a profit is just about the only reason a business exists...
Tom C.
