>I'm sorry you feel this way Joseph, I've found Ed's comments to be very well worded and tempered. He has not, to best that I can read called anyone scum. He has said that if you steal, you are a thief. THAT'S JUST TRUTH. If you take something that was not given to you or with out paying for it, that is called theft. No matter how much we think we deserve it, or how evil we think the person we are taking it from is. Ed has given us the best answers for all the arguments against piracy that I think I've ever heard. He has not told me how I should do my job, but he has told me that if I break the agreement I'm a thief. He's right!
>

Thanks for the prompt and vocal defense; I appreciate it. I probably could have approached the topic more obliquely and worded things in a more subtle and less offensive fashion, though; I'll try to keep other people's sensibilities in mind a bit more in the future when deciding on an appropriate response.

>Jeff
>
>>>>I am interested in Ed's view (behaviour too) about this...
>>>>
>>>>Ed, have you ever driven above the speed limit? Have you ever taped a song from the radio (songs are copyrighted here too Walter)? Have you ever photocopied a page out of a book?
>>>
>>>Yes, and I've paid speeding tickets. No, I don't make tapes of things off the radio except as explicitly permitted, or tape baseball games outside of the restrictions placed on them by the owners of Major League baseball, because it's their right to place limits on what you can and can't do. I've made photocopies within the restrictions imposed by the publisher of the material, and if I want to make use of materials from a published work for republication, I request written permission to reproduce the material, and if the author requests payment for reproduction, I either pay for the privilege or don't use the material.
>>
>>Some would say you are worse than a thief because you speed. You are putting innocent people's lives at risk because you are driving your car at speeds that the experts have deemed unsafe. But lets hope people who might say this will not comment. It is true that this is a forum to discuss software piracy (and not really speeding, unless used as a relevant example). But I don't think it is a forum for people (you) to call other people names. Just because you feel that software pirates are scum, doesn't mean you should say it here. I think there is a line between saying you think a certain behaviour is wrong, and actually putting a label (eg. thief) on a person that displays a certain behaviour.
>>
>>
>>>
>>>If I use code that I've gotten from other people, I acknowledge their contribution (look at the comments in my CLSHEAP class to see this) and I pay for what I use. I'd be willing to bet dollars to doughnuts I've got more fully registered shareware than most people, and I audit my software registration just as closely at home as we do at work.
>>>
>>>It may be that working for a publishing company, where I deal with intellectual property rights day in and day out makes me much more aware of the rights of authors, and just how poorly most people treat other people's intellectual property, whether from ignorance, laziness or greed. I also hold several patents and copyrights, and realize what the holder has to do in order to defend their claim to ownership of intellectual property.
>>>
>>>Ignorance and greed don't excuse bad manners or illegal behavior.
>>>
>>>I'm curious if you asked out of greed or fear.
>>
>>Neither. I am curious about you. Why you feel you can call people (not me) names (like thief and worse) and insult them the way you do. I am just wondering why you see yourself as a judge of other people's morality.
>>
>>Joe
>>
>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>I am just curious if you are so sensitive to software piracy because you are an extremely moral person, or if it is just because it might affect your livelyhood.
>>>>
>>>>Joe