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So if I do a bank transfer from your account to mine, I'm just "copying information".


No. You're accessing computer resources that you don't own and you aren't authorized to.


Same with private cryptocurrency keys. Otherwise, accessing non-public APIs with weak security by playing around with the URL would be legal.


No. Invalid comparison. If you legitimately discover a cryptocurrency wallet private key by sheet lucky, and such cryptocurrency has no backing = is based in pure thin air, such as the case of Bitcoin, and there are public nodes which doesn't require you to abide by contracts that would forbid you to do so (which is supposedly all nodes), you're good to use that as you wish and it won't be a crime.

It's unethical to steal something tangible. Bitcoin has no tangibility whatsoever. You can't steal it.


What? From an engadget article:

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Property is legally defined as 'Not only money and other tangible things of value, but also includes any intangible right considered as a source or element of income or wealth.'

That includes protectable ideas, digital files, financial instruments (like stocks and bonds, loans and credits), computer graphics, certain arrangements of words and quite a bit more.

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What does tangibility mean to you? That allows you steal the examples in the second paragraph without legal reprecussions nor ethical dilemmas?


Of course you can steal it, and it's unethical and should be punishable. Not sure what planet we live on here.


Bits on a server representing your account balance also have no tangibility


Jeez! So, are you telling me that cloud isn't someone's else computer? Damn it.


hmm? Do you think the blockchain isn't also on a bunch of people's computers?




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