Quote:
Originally Posted by v0id
Copying or downloading media isn't theft, it's copyright infringement which is a civil not a criminal offence.  |
Setting aside the fact that your point is moot given the legal interpretation of theft;
Section 4(1) (of Section 1(1) of the Theft Act 1968 (TA 1968)
"Property" includes money and all other property, real or personal, including things in action and other intangible property.
GENERAL
- Things in action are rights which can only be enforced by taking legal action, as they have no physical existence. For example, a man owes £ 500 to a company. This debt is a chose in action. It exists in the sense that the company could actually sell it to somebody else, who would then have the right to collect the money from the man.
- Other examples of intangible property are copyrights, trademarks and patents. However, confidential information has been held to fall outside the definition of property:
On that basis what distinction do you make between people illegally downloading programmes (thieves) and those who illegally access programmes (thieves) and how, given the definition in law as clearly defined in the statute quoted above, do you arrive at that distinction?