Morality, Honesty and Legality

[Kay C Lan]

On Tue, Sep 11, 2012 at 5:50 PM, Richmond <richmondmathewson at gmail.com>wrote:

> 6. One of the real problems (and it is more philosophical than either
> legal or moral) is what
>     constitutes possession.
>
> 6.1. I have a Snow Leopard install disk on the desk next to me as I type
> this, and its contents
>        (i.e. the software) are on the disk.
>
> 6.2. I also have a library book on the desk here - on loan for 4 weeks
> from the local library.
>
> 6.3. I also have a cup of coffee.
>
> 6.4. I also have a book I bought last week.
>
> Now, as far as I can see there is a very clear distinction between #6.2
> and #6.3, #6.1 and 6.4 are less
> clear (except, perhaps, for types like R. Stallman who over-simplifies
> things to a ridiculous degree).
>
> Interesting, why didn't you pick 6.2 and 6.4? But then again, it's
probably just you, my wife is a Librarian and it's clear that some people
can't distingush the difference.