Exactly, you just proved the general's and my point. All of the definition clearly say "to take". I've never "taken" a movie, song, or any content that can be infringed upon. Its the difference between taking and copying.
And to Sidewinder, a copyright violation is not "money out of the holder's pocket" See, you, like the RIAA/MPAA/ and software lobbyists assume that every pirated material is a lost sale, which it is not. For example, someone who pirates music may never pay for the music, even if pirating was unavailable. Their hierarchy could be:
1. Pirate Song
2. Stream over pandora
3. Listen to radio
4. Buy song
If the person couldn't pirate the song, maybe they would use a free streaming service or just listen to the good old-fashioned radio.
Anyway, whether or not you have moral issues with piracy, that's up to you. But it is NOT stealing. You CANNOT steal IP (aka imaginary property)
Your attempts to parse your way around clearly unacceptable behavior are long since worn out, and quite sad in a way.
Where do you draw the line with the (to me, absurd) idea that you can ignore a prohibited "free" access to someone else's creations?
Would you stop at lifting music, movies, computer software, or would you be willing to try to acquire other types of intellectual property, say fashion designs, designs for new semiconductor chips?
Do you really believe in your heart that copying is not taking?
Where does your trail of crossed lines end? Will you betray your boss? Your country?
No? Because maybe "That's different?"
Where does it become different, and not acceptable? When the consequences become unmistakably severe? You could say so now, but maybe in real life as you cross one line and then another, graver consequences seem no more probable to you, and therefore no more of a deterrent, than the ones you can face right now for not buying music carrying a price tag.
You may think there are no ill consequences as long you don't get caught. All one's ill-considered actions have consequences, if only the erosion of one's value system. It's like the proverbial frog in the slowly heating water. You will never know when you're cooked, until it's too late.
It's a dangerous idea to take out in the world, or to teach your kids to take out in the world, this half-baked suggestion that piracy is not theft or "taking" since it's just a copy, blah blah blah. The real world, the one populated by adults, communities, governments, courts of law, does not look at things that way.
The idea that piracy is ok simply DOES.NOT.FLY. I don't mean it never happens that people get away with it. People get away with it every day. But there is always a price. Who pays it, and when? Your mileage may vary. When society starts paying too much, the leeway shifts and narrows because the legislators step in. Then there is great wailing and moaning and carrying on about laws inconveniencing the law-abiding and not having effect on the scofflaws. That's on the pirate's heads too, not that they care.
You sound quite young, but you're way too old not to realize that what you are saying is basically a semantic blur, and a crock.
