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RIAA vs. Captain Teach | 516 comments (480 topical, 36 editorial, 0 hidden)

"piracy" is now like "hacker" (4.22 / 9) (#24)
by Seth Finkelstein on Sun Apr 6th, 2003 at 11:47:34 AM EST
(sethf[at-sign]sethf.com) http://sethf.com

In terms of the language, "piracy" is now a descriptivist vs. prescriptist debate. So far, I'm with the prescriptists here - the implications of the word are very negative, and so using it to refer to any unauthorized copying is giving an (in my view) negative connotation. Note the word used to have a commercial, for-profit, sense, which has been rubbed off it by the (somewhat successful) attempts to identify sharing with rip-offs.

Richard M. Stallman has a good page on language use and "words to avoid":

``Piracy''

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, kidnaping and murdering the people on them.

If you don't believe that illegal copying is just like kidnaping 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.''

-- Seth Finkelstein

Piracy by cdyer, 04/07/2003 02:11:27 PM EST (none / 0)
Mark Twain's word by Blarney, 04/06/2003 04:21:45 PM EST (none / 0)

RIAA vs. Captain Teach | 516 comments (480 topical, 36 editorial, 0 hidden)

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