Full Disclosure mailing list archives

Re: Hacking into private files, my credit card purchases, personal correspondence or anything that is mine is trespassing and criminal.


From: Barry Fitzgerald <bkfsec () sdf lonestar org>
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2004 10:06:16 -0400

Jesse Valentin wrote:


My point is that just because something isn’t recognized as incorrect by a “legal entity” this doesn’t necessarily indicate that the conclusion is sound…


I agree with your point here, but you missed one of the nuances of my argument. The definition of theft isn't just a legal definition that occurs at one point in time. It's a *long*-standing legal concept that is grounded in millennia of philosophical interpretation.

Stealing is unathorized possession, not unathorized use. It's not just a legal contextual definition, it's a very set in stone and time tested legal definition.

It doesn't matter what someone's opinion of the misuse of the word is. The sky is not blood red no matter how many people say that it is.

And those who try to redefine theft with the intention of affecting an emotional reaction should recieve copious amounts of opposition because they're trying to affect the legal infrastructure by manipulating the language and, by extension, changing people's opinions when standard methods of changing their opinions simply don't work.

In other words: the drive is manipulative and it's being carried out by people who are malicious to society as a whole. Unfortunately, they've had great success in this and the average person misuses the terms without even knowing that they're doing harm.

-Barry

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