- if I copy info from the Web and re-transmit it to others, pretending I'm the author, I am stealing;
- if I copy info from the Web and sell it to others without permission from the author, I am stealing.
I realize there are lots of borderline cases where it's not immediately clear what counts as stealing, but let's leave that to the lawyers to figure out.
= What practical solutions would you suggest?
I would adopt the following rules of thumb:
- copying info for your own use is always free;
- re-transmission is OK with proper credit to the author (unless the info is explicitely labeled as public);
- re-sale of info is OK with permission of the author (unless public).
To back this up one could envisage:
- introducing standard labels (for each mime type) which indicate whether the info is public, and if not, point to the author;