In class on Tuesday we discussed what it meant "to own" something. That is, we offered the statement that it is illegal to own picture X, but called into question whether we would own picture X if we had seen it on a computer, downloaded it, and other such scenarios.
Now this is certainly an interesting issue and I think there is no easy answer to all of this. I think, however, that the situation is similar to current piracy acts online. Many individuals download music, movies, etc. online and do not believe that it is crime because they're not actually stealing something physical (i.e. a CD or DVD from a store) and they do not believe they are stealing something permanently (i.e. one can watch a streamed, online version of a movie for free and not have to pay for it). Now in some regards I can understand this, that is, you do not actually feel like you are stealing something when you download. However, I can also understand the opposite viewpoint, namely, individuals, when downloading, are, in a certain regard, stealing, and, therefore, this is wrong.
I think the best solution for these problems--both the picture scenario and stealing music--would more of a positivist interpretation; suffice it to say, there have to be clear, definite, and well-known laws made and promulgated to help explicate what is really going on. For example, regarding downloading music, most individuals know this is wrong. Hence, they turn to programs that are legal where they can listen to music online for free and have to listen and see advertisements. In the case of picture X, I think it would be to have clear, definite laws what constitute owning the picture and what constitutes not owning the picture.
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I agree with this post in the sense that many people do not feel it is stealing because they do not actually take property physically. However, many people do realize this is stealing, and there are many programs that allow you to burn CDs or movies or whatever even if they are copyrighted. I think that isn't as much ignorance to it being illegal as apathy because a lot of people see bands or movie makers as billionaires and one movie or CD won't hurt them.
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