Computer piracy is sinful, says Israeli court

Copying software illegally -- or even buying it -- could spell religious trouble for those involved. This news comes after a religious court in Israel ruled that piracy was now officially a sin. A report in The Jerusalem Post said the rabbinical court of the ultra-Orthodox Eda Haredit movement has ruled that copying computer programs and buying pirated software are now forbidden acts. Anyone involved in the trade is a "sinner", the court said. A spokesman for the Catholic Church said that since piracy is technically theft, and theft is a sin, then "yes, technically, it was a sin". "To qualify, a sin be something wrong and also must be premeditated," he said. "It must be both objectively and subjectively wrong," he added, stopping short of entering into a full-blown theological debate on the subject. No one from the Business Software Alliance (BSA) -- which monitors and dispenses retribution of a more earthly variety for software infringements -- was available for comment. ®