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27th May 2009 | Show parent

Gear Head

Quote:

Originally Posted by colinmiller ➡️

Ray

If we had no law enforcement for shop lifting and only relied on education, do you think that would protect stores from theft?

Yes we know that if we shop lift, stores will have to raise prices to stay in business and we all lose. So if we just put that message out there without any enforcement, will that protect business?

This statement assumes that everyone who uses cracked software is a thief at heart.

This is not true!

IMSTA assumes that most musicians are not thieves and that they would not steal or shop lift, even if they have the chance to do so without getting caught.

They just have to understand that stealing intellectual property is still stealing and that it is just as bad as stealing physical goods - no matter how they try to convince themselves otherwise.

Some excuses: I can’t afford it, it is not a physical product, I did not have tech support at 2:00 AM, etc…

On the other hand, shop lifters are exactly that, shop lifters. We have all these great laws that people speak of; however, they have not eliminated shop lifting or any other type of crime.

A thief will be a thief regardless of education and/or law enforcement. Of course, some musicians are also thieves. This groups of thieves who also happen to be musicians, are NOT IMSTA’s target audience.

Our education is meant for those good musicians who are not thieves at heart and would not steal anything else, other than their software. We have to make sure they realize it is just as wrong.

Anyone wishing to enforce the issue can do so. However, they will have to do it without IMSTA.

Paul