Originally Posted by
memebag
Don't be silly. I didn't say everything that's against the law was stealing. The law defines what "stealing" is, and if law includes copying IP without permission in that definition (and it does), then copying IP without permission is stealing.
If an IP owner sells his product for $10 and someone copies it without paying him, he has $10 less than he should according to the law.
If this confuses you, send me all of your paychecks but keep working really hard. You won't be losing any money at all so you shouldn't complain.
You're making an assumption that someone who illegally downloads content would be willing (or even ABLE) to pay for it if it weren't illegally available . I don't think that is a valid assumption, or even a probable scenario.
Regarding IP copying classified as stealing...where are you seeing that? I'm not saying you're wrong...I'm just curious. I'd never seen it classified like that.