I normally answer old questions in a untimely fashion with a more annoying and less though out response.
I'd love to see you explain to a judge how two entirely different things, one of which is a crime and one of which isn't, were in fact just "facile semantic arguments". The reason I'd love it is that he'd jail you for contempt of court and I could laugh and point as they dragged you away.
Oh, what a sad, sad life you must lead. To come to a gaming forum and post nothing but snide comments...just pathetic. I used to be annoyed by you, now I just feel pity. I can imagine you bathed in the warm glow of your monitor, giggling to yourself at yet another "zinger". Enjoy being obnoxious while anonymous, I imagine that if you do interact with people in the real world and act like you do here, you would get popped in the mouth quite frequently.
Yawn. I post plenty of nice stuff, so why I'd care what an ignorant lying idiot thinks is a real mystery. You call it a "zinger" and "snide", I call it the simple factual truth of the argument. Your position is ludicrous and stupid - videogame piracy is NOT theft, never has been, never will be, and that's that. You can bitch and whine and moan all you like and that fact will never change.
Oh Gawwwd not Spungo again... I'm with Sizzla, you used to annoy the hell out of me also but now I just have to pity you too. *Supposedly* 20 years in the gaming industry and the poor guy doesn't understand anything about gaming or business.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Got any insightful comments or convincing arguments to prove me wrong with, or is it just another bunch of whiny crybaby name-calling as usual?
When you take something that doesn't belong to you, or something you haven't paid for it's theft. theft n. the generic term for all crimes in which a person intentionally and fraudulently takes personal property of another without permission or consent and with the intent to convert it to the taker's use (including potential sale). In many states, if the value of the property taken is low (for example, less than $500) the crime is "petty theft," but it is "grand theft" for larger amounts, designated misdemeanor, or felony, respectively. Theft is synonymous with "larceny." Although robbery (taking by force), burglary (taken by entering unlawfully), and embezzlement (stealing from an employer) are all commonly thought of as theft, they are distinguished by the means and methods used, and are separately designated as those types of crimes in criminal charges and statutory punishments. (See: larceny, robbery, burglary, embezzlement) Surely even you can comprehend that.
http://www.applelinks.com/mooresviews/pirate.shtml http://www.devtopics.com/no-silly-piracy-is-theft/ http://www.gamesradar.com/f/piracy-vs-theft-the-argument-beyond-the-words/a-2008091094355189053
And as for your link, all it is, is opinion. If you want to make a point, or try and prove your opinion, provide sources, law, and definitions. Of course, that would show what you're saying is resoundingly wrong, so I don't expect you to.
If we're just calling anything we don't like by the name of random crimes, why not "piracy is rape"? That's a nice emotive one. "Piracy is murder"? Because hey, it's KILLING the games indiustry, right? (Never mind that the games industry is in the most spectacular health imaginable after being "killed" by piracy for the last 30 years.) What about "piracy is reckless driving"? "Piracy is arson"? Pick your own! It's not a semantic quibble, it's the f*cking heart of the issue. Most people accept that stealing is wrong, because it has a clear and real victim. Whether piracy does is an EXTREMELY debateable concept - assuming you look at the evidence rather than making a shrieking kneejerk judgement, so we're probably out of luck on TA - and that's why the two things are fundamentally different and why sane and reasonable people get pissed off with idiots squealing "theft!".
And Dave comes in with the own. Seriously, the only groups of people who DON'T think it theft of a sort are those who pathetically supply "reasons" and "excuses" for their piracy rather than just tell the truth ("I wanted it for free") or those who have never actually created anything and put it up for sale.
But is it "Legal Theft" like Words with Friends? If you don't like TA, please, for the love of God, leave and never come back.
No, dear, because it isn't legal. Try to keep up. WWF actually tangibly took something from me - my money, under false pretences. I no longer have that money, and can't spend it on anything else. Someone who's had their game copied still has their game. If they'd just copied my money I wouldn't give a damn.
