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Piracy has never been theft, regardless of what lies the public has been fed.

It's copyright infringement.

The fact that the word "piracy" is somehow re-used for copyright infringement is one of the largest victories in language wars of the 20th century. It's Orwellian double speak at its best. Everyone know we are not talking about actual pirates raiding someone goods, but we use it none the less.

The intense irony of this is that piracy was often sanctioned by nations during times of war in the 18th and 19th century. It gave them an option to conduct commerce raiding without the need for an explicit expansion of their navy. It could even be considered patriotic.

I see some (including RMS) get hung up on the term "piracy", even though for most people the word pirate is not really associated with real-world crime and criminals, its a fun cartoonish thing, Jolly Roger hat, eyepatch, hook hand, wooden leg, parrot on the shoulder, arrr etc. They don't think of pirates on the Somalian coast holding AK47s.

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