Do as you would be done by - again!

A big car-boot sale near where I live is being forced to close because of threats of prosecution due to some of the stallholders being discovered selling "dodgy gear". Piracy is theft, proclaim the local Trading Standards Officers. Really? Just what is being stolen from whom? As far as I can see, if I buy a hooky copied CD, the only way this can be considered as theft is on the basis that I am thereby denying the producer of the legitimate article a sale. But as, I suspect in common with most people who buy pirate copies, I am doing so specifically because I am unable or unwilling to pay the price being asked for the legitimate article, they wouldn't be getting a sale in the first place. So who's losing out? Before they start complaining, those who produce regularly pirated goods should ask themselves why, and examine the way they price their goods, and seek to control the market. One of my grandchildren asked for the DVD of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for Christmas, and I had to explain that, as it had only recently been released in the cinemas, the DVD would not be out for some time yet. But why not? Because they can make a lot more money by forcing anyone who wants to see it to have to go to the cinema, that's why! As I've said before, those who deliberately rip people off are in no position to complain if they are ripped off themselves.