[linux-audio-dev] Re: No Subject

[Hannu Savolainen]

On Tue, 21 Feb 2006, Kjetil S. Matheussen wrote:

> > > > > Why don't you want to distinct between copyright violation
> > > > > (which is
> > > > > a gray area, different from country to country) and stealing?
> > > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > First, because I personally do consider it stealing, and second,
> > > > 
> > > 
> > > But why do you consider it stealing?
> > > 
> > 
> > Because you are taking someone's property without paying them for it.
> 
> Lets see, taking property. By property, I guess you mean the intellectual
> property, but isn't what they do exactly, is to copy the intellectual
> property, not taking it? Because you still have it, perhaps unless someone
> else claims to be the creator. Well, its just a definition, but I can't agree
> its stealing.
Work is work regardless of it's type. You cannot think that you use just a 
copy of someone's work when it's in form of "intellectual property". 
Instead you are using part of the whole work.

Intellectual property is not somathing that drops from the heaven. When 
you use intellectual property somebody has spent maybe years on creating 
it. He expects to get paid for that work. Since the price of a copy cannot 
be too high he would expect to sell certain number of copies (say N). If 
you are using a "copy" of the work you in fact have stolen 1/Nth of 
the time author spent when creating it.

If you run out from barber's shop without paying it's very clearly a 
crime. You have stolen 1/N of barber's monthly salary. Is there anything 
that makes 1/Nth if artist's or programmer's salary less criminal than 
stealing 1/Nth of barber's salary?

If you don't like the model of selling intellectual property then your 
moral right is to refuse using such work. But I don't think you have any 
rights to use the work without paying.

Best regards,

Hannu
-----
Hannu Savolainen (hannu at opensound.com)
http://www.opensound.com (Open Sound System (OSS))
http://www.compusonic.fi (Finnish OSS pages)
OH2GLH QTH: Karkkila, Finland LOC: KP20CM