* Jason Holt [Sat, 24 Jan 2004 at 00:16 +0000]
> Too late.  Cable TV descramblers are illegal, and it's illegal to use a
> scanner to listen to analog cell phone conversations.

It's illegal to _use_ a scanner _to_ listen... That was my point exactly,
the scanner itself isn't illegal (I think). As for the Cable descrambler, if
there is another use for it that isn't illegal (though I don't know of any)
then I should be able to use it for that legal purpose. "Cable descramblers
don't steal cable, people do." Sorry, couldn't resist.

> > (before any arguments on "owning" the book, the author wrote and published
> >  the book on the pretense that he would be compensated for the time and
> >  effort, if nobody gets paid to write books, or make movies, or what have
> >  you, then there won't be books or movies except where they profit the
> >  author in other ways such as prestige and recocnition, we certainly
> >  wouldn't have Lord of the Rings made into a movie, or other really great
> >  stuff. Boy, that was a little long winded)
> 
>  This ploy kinda bugs me, but it does seem to have some comedic value here:
> 
> (before any arguments on "owning" love, the lover loved on the pretense that
> he would be compensated for the time and effort, if nobody gets paid to love
> children, or puppies, or what have you, then there won't be loved children or
> puppies except where they profit the lover in other ways such as prestige and
> recocnition, we certainly wouldn't have loved children loving puppies, or
> other really great stuff. Boy, that was a little long winded)
> 
>  Sorry, we'll need some actual *arguments* next time.  (Okay, sure, you did
> make half an argument, which is that (some!) authors may presently be working
> with expectations of compensation.)

Ooh, got me. That was pretty good. You have a point. But you're talking
about authors more generally, what I meant was authors of fiction and the
like, where they try to make a living by writing. About love, I love because
I want to, just like I code because I want to. But when I code for someone
specific (working with expectation of compensation), I don't want someone
stealing that code and giving it for free to the very person that was going
to pay me for it. Some authors write for an audience who buy the book, and
when someone copies the book and gives it for free to the very audience who
was going to pay the author, that's pretty much the same thing.

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