If it doesn't affect you, it's not your business.

I am about to make a comparison which may draw 'apples and oranges' accusations. I defend myself in advance by saying that the comparison I make, while extreme, highlights the principle I discuss.

Suppose that your principle were enacted. Suppose everyone were, legally speaking, an island. Then there would be no responsibility for any individual, who, say, witnessed you being assaulted, to help, or report the crime. If you wish to reap a benefit (such as, in this case, royalties), you do have a duty, whether implicit or explicit, to defend the right of others to do so also. The informers you refer to were not defending any rights of others, but simply infringing privacy for gain. On the other hand, if I report a software pirate, or for that matter any other infringer of copyright, I defend my own treasured right not to have my own work passed off as that of someone else, whether for profit on their part or not. It's not merely about whether you personally have been harmed by a crime, but whether, in an analogous situation, you would want your own rights defended.

Now, you may not wish to defend merlyn's rights, or to have yours defended. But there is no way under heaven people should be criticised for defending the rights of their neighbours.

Tiefling

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