More on piracy

February 25th, 2005 | by aobaoill |

I recently mentioned the objections some people have to the term piracy in the context of a piece on pirate radio. Of course the term is also used in relation to unauthorised/illegal copying of copyright material, as I mentioned in passing, and I’ve just encountered, once again, RMS’s comments. I think these may actually be what I was straining to remember in the context of my previous piece:

Publishers often refer to prohibited copying as “piracy.” In this way, they imply that illegal copying is ethically equivalent to attacking ships on the high seas, kidnapping and murdering the people on them.
If you don’t believe that illegal copying is just like kidnapping and murder, you might prefer not to use the word “piracy” to describe it. Neutral terms such as “prohibited copying” or “unauthorized copying” are available for use instead. Some of us might even prefer to use a positive term such as “sharing information with your neighbor.”

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