Robbing a bank is wrong, because you are taking something that does not belong to you, and that you did not work for. However, I am not sure that the same morals have the same application in the cyber world. Stealing a car is one thing, but would it be so bad if you could just copy and paste your car? That difference is the line between piracy and thievery.

Therefore I think the morale code needs to be adjusted and I will use the iPhone app store for my example. Say I were visiting Washington DC for the weekend and planned on using the metro there. I would never pay for an app that I would only use for a weekend, that’s just ridiculous to me. However it wouldn’t be to much of a hassle to pirate it. What difference does this make to the creator of the app? None at all because if I were not able to pirate it, I would of never bought it. Either way he doesn’t make a dime so what does it matter?

On the other hand when I first saw the Civilization Revolution App in the AppStore I did not hesitate for one second to put down $10, because I love that series of games.  If I were to pirate Civilization Revolution, that would be wrong. What’s the difference? If piracy did not exist, I would of bought the app regardless. So by pirating the app I would be taking away a customer, and a commission from the people behind the product. Essentially I would be stealing because it puts the creators at a loss.

Piracy and theft are not the same crime even thought they’re often seen that way. Piracy does not have to cost the person being taken from whereas stealing always leaves it’s victims wronged. The Internet is not held to the limitations of the physical world, and the morals do not work the same way after they cross the line into cyberspace.