Quote Originally Posted by Miriel View Post
I seriously don't understand why you guys are trying to rely on these technicalities to claim that it's not theft. What's the point? Does not being labeled a thief really make that much of a difference to you? Like I said earlier in the thread, does it really make you feel better about yourself?
Because it's accurate. Nothing else. If it was theft I'd call it theft. It's not theft, legally, and the law is what matters.

You can argue all you want about infringement and how stealing a car is sooooo different from stealing Photoshop but any person with common sense can look at the situation, see that someone is getting Photoshop for free when they should be paying for it, and determine that what just happened was theft.
When you 'steal' someone's copy of Photoshop, they can still use it. That's one of the big differences here, and why the theft tag isn't the best one. Theft carries implications that are not accurate; it's not about feeling better about oneself (if anything I feel worse about copyright issues than theft, in fact), it's about accuracy. I mean, come on Miriel, if you don't recognize that people like me and Roto are needlessly pedantic by now...

From Wiki: "The actus reus of theft is usually defined as an unauthorised taking, keeping or using of another's property which must be accompanied by a mens rea of dishonesty and/or the intent to permanently deprive the owner or the person with rightful possession of that property or its use."