Is Kevin Rose Guilty of Theft for Pirating iPhone v3.0?

Kevin Rose posted the following tweet:

So, here’s the question: Did Kevin Rose just admit to a legally punishable crime?  We all know how easy it is to go to a bittorrent site and download anything from the latest U2 album to Sims3 and many take it for granted that, while it is technically illegal it just isn’t that big a deal. Everyone does it.  It’s like smoking pot.

However, the fact remains that smoking pot is illegal and one would be foolish to puff a blunt in front of a police station.  In fact, if one did that and was arrested there would be little public sympathy.

Now, here comes Kevin Rose bragging about what is, unless the laws have changed, the illegal posession of software that he could not have acquired with violating copyright laws at the very least.  Technically, this could be seen as simple larceny.  And if Kevin has shared his ilegal copy of the sotware with friends he is now an illegal distributor – a far more grave crime.

My point is not that Kevin Rose should be arrested.  Instead, I think this is a clear sign that, much like the growing support for marjuana legalization, it is time for a major overhaul of the law as it relates to the posession and distribution of digital content.

That, or the jails will soon be full of kids who just couldn’t wait to hear the latest Jonas Brothers album.

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