It's weird coming across a conversation where people openly discuss how to steal from you. I received a Google Alerts for my name today, clicked on the link and found an entire conversation where someone posted asking how to steal one of my books (get a free download) and other people jump in to tell the person just exactly how to do it.
Seriously? Do the people not realize they are committing a crime? And they know exactly who they are stealing from. Me! I am a person. I exist. Somehow they justify it as not being theft, but would they walk into my apartment and just help themselves to my things? Do they go into a store and take something without paying for it?
Would they mind if I came over to their house and loaded up on a few things. I'm on a tight budget, so I might like to help myself to their cereal and maybe some eggs. Or can I go to their work and grab a few dollars out of their pay? It shouldn't be that big of a deal, it's just a couple of bucks, but there are a few hundred people in line behind me.
A friend of mine used to illegally download books all the time. I would tell her not to do it, but she insisted that she couldn't afford to pay for all the books she reads. Now she's an indie author and completely furious when she finds her book on a free download site. Um... yeah. That's what I was talking about. You thought it was okay to steal from other people, but now you're upset when people are actually stealing from you.
