Q&A: Is There Theft in Digital Items
Is There Theft in Digital Items
Question
A) There are books and files that were obtained / copied illegally. Is it permitted to use them, given that I am not the one who stole them?
B) And even if I myself am the one hacking in, is it permitted? After all, I’m not stealing anything tangible.
Answer
In principle, there is theft involved here, even though it is not something tangible. See my article on deception and intellectual property. However, once they have already been cracked and made available to everyone, there is room to be lenient, on the grounds of something akin to property irretrievably lost to all.
Discussion on Answer
The common practice is to be lenient about this.
That’s why I wrote only that there is room to be lenient, not that it is permitted, because one could argue “robbers like you conquered it.” But there is a difference between a path through a field and a copied movie or book on the internet. In a field, it is possible to block the breach; here, it is not.
Hello Rabbi, is this a case of property irretrievably lost to all, or of “robbers like you conquered it”? Also, should one be lenient with movies as well?