Another example: if an “identity thief” appropriates your personal information, you’re still the same person—your identity wasn’t stolen, it was infringed.
Another example: if an “identity thief” appropriates your personal information, you’re still the same person—your identity wasn’t stolen, it was infringed.
Just to go off on a tangent for a moment, this is another reframing of a crime that bothers me. There were already laws on the books against "identity theft" long before it happened: it's called fraud. So why does identity theft exist? Because banks and creditors and government agencies are constantly trying to reduce cost, they don't want to have to track down the person who defrauded them, that costs money. Instead, they put the burden of proof on you, and now it's your mess to clean up.
This prompts an interesting question: Is identity theft the act of procuring personal information without permission, or is it the act of using this information to misrepresent your identity? Is it both, necessarily? What if you don't harm the victim in any way? And what part of this constitutes actual theft? To the person, it certainly _feels_ like a part of him was stolen and used without permission.
Having published creative works on the Internet myself, I certainly understand why so many content creators try to prevent unauthorized copying. You really do feel vulnerable. Something you're very proud of has been shared with the world, and now it's in some seedy part of the Internet, with forum dwellers making fun of it.
I've noticed that as social creatures, we're unable to have empathy for corporations. There's nobody to feel guilty towards when you download that copy of Autodesk Maya. I don't think our brains are designed for it. We like individuals and small businesses because we can fit a picture of the actual people inside our heads. We feel guilty when we infringe upon their copyrights, because we know it might actually hurt them personally.
Most illegal acts can be boiled down to emotional damage. As pointed out elsewhere in this post, the right to property is an abstract concept. You _decided_ to hold onto that object, and you're unwilling to part with it. It doesn't seem abstract, because it's something our brains instinctively do, but it has no root in physical reality.
Why is murder a crime? Supernatural beliefs aside, the victim most certainly doesn't care anymore, because he's dead. As we all know, the problem is the emotional and financial damage to the people left behind. Prison sentences serve to control this damage.
Can a large corporation feel emotional damage? Should these laws apply if there is no emotional hurt? Everyone can see that a large company like Adobe is nowhere near going bankrupt, and their employees are most certainly not hurting because of piracy. Adobe has money coming out of its rear end.
Perhaps our laws should offer less protection if you're big and strong. Vast swaths of the world's population are happily breaking copyright law, and _not_ feeling guilty about it. Some shades of gray are clearly missing here.
Arguably the identity part modifies the type of theft, as in "theft using your identity". They take your money, or your credit, and use your identity to do so.
Either way I think that one is arguable. Can you still enjoy free use of your identity once it's been used in this way. Remember in this that your "identity" is not your real identity attached to your person it's your identifying details as used by banks and such.
