I think it's a shame that there isn't more respect for intellectual property - people don't see theft of data or ideas as being as serious as the theft of a physical object, perhaps because the object isn't there to remind them. Most people wouldn't walk into a shop and stick a load of music or software CDs into their pocket then walk out again, but in effect software piracy (or illegal music downloads) amount to the same thing, with the obvious exception that you're more likely to get caught shoplifting.

It seems that the physical manifestation of the data (ie. the CD or whatever) is considered more 'significant' or whatever than the data itself, which is of course entirely the wrong way around - the actual value of the physical thing itself is negligable in the scheme of things, whereas the data is what is actually valuable.

Just to set out my stall too BTW, I am in the position of having a vested interest in the value of intellectual property.