Originally Posted by: SuperhumanI'm probably going to sound like a smartass but here goes anyway :D
There is a difference between buying a second hand good and downloading something from the internet for free - and it's not just the money;-) If you buy a cd in a second hand book shop or on ebay then you are buying a single item that involves a single monetary transaction as opposed to a downloadable file which can be downloaded an unlimited number of times by an unlimited number of people. Secondhand sales are also legal as they are mostly done within a system that involces VAT (value added tax) back to the local government and they are generally done through a shop or service that is licenced to do so. Just pointing out the difference BUT I do see where you are coming from!

It obviously isn't the same thing. I was trying to find a relative situation to compare. Obviously no one is going to come out and say "stealing is the right thing to do." Yet people still do it, so if this were a poll I think people who say "yes its wrong, but I do it anyway" count as a vote for pro 'stealing' music. I was trying to gage how extreme people's views are as far as "protecting the artist's right." Technically I could justify my stealing music by saying "well at some point someone bought it." (I wouldn't justify myself in that way, my justification is that I don't really care). I realize its a bit of a radical comparison but I think it is relative situation.