Comment by jamesbressi
16 years ago
I'm so sorry for pointing this out, I loved the article, but was surprised that no one else raised issue with:
"Like downloading MP3s, it was a victimless crime."
After all these years we know better than to say this carelessly. Is stealing code from a hardworking programmer a victimless crime?
I thought this example was well chosen. Downloading mp3s is a familiar thing that's very easy to do, but may not be ethically defensible in the final analysis.
If you want to have a discussion about copyright though, you're poisoning the well by calling infringement stealing.
I interpreted this as meaning "it's obvious that it's wrong but since it's hard to directly connect with the victim the threshold for doing it is very low". I agree that it did come across a bit ambiguous as to his actual meaning. The perennial Simpsons quote "Shoplifting is a victimless crime...like punching someone in the dark" would've been a more direct illustration, at least if the author meant what I think he meant :)