Submitted by jim_bb_2004 on March 30th, 2005FactsWhen Slashdot posts stories about GPL infringements, the editors post strong-worded submissions which refer to copyright infringement as "stealing," and which assert that copyright infringement is unquestionably wrong. This rarely happens when it's a story about the RIAA or MPAA- in fact, when a copyright held by the RIAA or MPAA is violated, the violators are referred to as traders, sharers, and swappers. Furthermore (due to the sympathetic verbage), it seems that these stories assert that it's okay to violate copyrights as long as you're very young or old. CommentaryCopyright infringement isn't theft (see Dowling v. United States), no matter who is doing it. The double standard is wrong. The injured party in copyright infringement often seeks to exaggerate the harm caused to them by mislabelling it as theft. Slashdot editors should not let such intentional misinformation/hyperbole through in any situation.
These stories often appeal to the notion that everybody is doing it, and attempt to humanize the violators to garner sympathy. Meanwhile, people and corporations that violate the GPL, sometimes accidentally, are demonized.
At the end of the day, justice is blind. The GNU folks have their copyrights, and the RIAA/MPAA have theirs. To scream bloody murder every time one is violated, and defend law-breakers every time the other one is, is the pinnacle of hypocrisy.
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