Why piracy is theft.

Piracy is theft. Here is why:

The value of a product is not determined only by its construction costs. It is also and mostly determined by the demand for it.

Therefore, copying a digital product is like removing this value from the product: it devaluates the product, and so it is a form of theft.

Gold and diamonds are expensive, not only because of the extraction costs, but also because they are the most wanted jewelry.

Houses in Beverly Hills are expensive, not because of their construction costs, but because the Stars live there and apparently many people would love to live their, next to their favorite star, raising demand.

Luxury cars are expensive because they are about status, not because of their construction costs.

Vacations and tickets to exotic places are very expensive not because the cost to travel is high, but because there are the most sought places on Earth for vacation.

There are many more items that have an extremely big price, not because of their materials cost, but because of their percieved value: anicent monuments, Stradivarious violins, Picaso paintings, etc.

It is the same with video games, music and songs: the cost of their production may be low, and the duplication of them costs almost nothing, but the illegal duplication devaluates the digital product.

Therefore, since copying decreases value, it is a form of theft.

Piracy is a civil issue, theft is a criminal issue. Fact.

You cant even argue that piracy is theft because the law proves you wrong.

reply to post by masterp

The value may well be determined that way but the price is not. Most cd's here are more expensive when they first come out than a few months later. Another way they like to milk the early buyers.

The profits earned by the big artists mainly go to the retailers and the record company shareholders and the price of a cd bears little or no real relation to its production costs. Hollywood Accounting is a well known term now. From a 10 dollar cd I daresay Madonna (high selling volume artist) might get 1 dollar.

Gold and Diamonds are a globally controlled commodity. In the case of Gold, I think 5 rich old white men in New York determine the price of it themselves once a week (?) in a private little office. I believe gemstones in general or at least the diamond trade has a rather large Jewish component at the trading and polishing level and then there is also De Beers of South Africa that regulates production to not upset price levels.

As you stated in the rest of your "reasons", just about everything we need and/or want to buy has little or no relation to production costs and everything to do with large profits for the vendor which usually means globally owned corps somewhere along the line.

It is not theft in the sense of a, me taking money physically from them or b, them losing my custom if I was never able or willing to purchase it anyway. At best you might possibly get me for illegal possession of an illegal copy but theft? I think not but then again, they might make a new law to make it so but it still won't really make it so.

Originally posted by Flyer
Piracy is a civil issue, theft is a criminal issue. Fact.

You cant even argue that piracy is theft because the law proves you wrong.

Wrong. It can be either or both.

Look it up!

add to the existing discussion here