Quote from: rezin777 on April 18, 2011, 02:07:32 PM

I don't see anywhere that he mentioned using force to recoup his expenses and profit.

How do you think intellectual property laws are enforced? Harsh language?

Quote from: rezin777 on April 18, 2011, 02:07:32 PM

Also, comparing losses due to theft of a product to an unmarketable product doesn't make any sense.

That's begging the question. We haven't established that it is or isn't theft. I claim it isn't. In any case, even the courts don't consider copyright infringement to be theft.

Quote from: Wikipedia

Courts have distinguished between copyright infringement and theft, holding, for instance, in the United States Supreme Court case Dowling v. United States (1985) that bootleg phonorecords did not constitute stolen property and that "...interference with copyright does not easily equate with theft, conversion, or fraud. The Copyright Act even employs a separate term of art to define one who misappropriates a copyright... 'an infringer of the copyright.'" In the case of copyright infringement the province guaranteed to the copyright holder by copyright law is invaded, i.e. exclusive rights, but no control, physical or otherwise, is taken over the copyright, nor is the copyright holder wholly deprived of using the copyrighted work or exercising the exclusive rights held.

Quote from: rezin777 on April 18, 2011, 02:07:32 PM

I just came up with a design for a machine that can save everyone time and money. I draw up the plans. You take a picture of the plans with a telescopic lens. You build the machine, sell it and profit. This is OK?

I build the machine and as I'm about to sell it at the market, you take it when I turn my back. You sell the machine and profit. This isn't OK?

So... what is the difference? In both cases you are hurting my ability to profit from my creation.

What about if I make a better machine than yours? I'm also hurting your ability to profit. Is that OK? Did the the automobile industry damage the horse and buggy industry? You betcha'. I don't see the problem. Maybe you want to outlaw competition? Some people do.

If you can't understand the difference between making an exact duplicate of X and stealing X then I really don't know what to say. I think even children understand that.