From my print column: Stealing is still stealing

For those of you who don't know, I've been writing a weekly tech column for the Los Angeles Daily News. It's usually available on the Technology page, where I've archived as many past columns as I've been able to find in the system.

This week's column is Stealing is still stealing. It's about the ethics of proprietary software. Is it OK to steal non-free software? How does free, open-source software factor into this ethical stew? It's nothing I haven't covered in this blog before, but it is a bit more up-to-the-minute as far as where I'm at goes:

Microsoft charges what it does because that's what the corporate market is willing to pay. And if the average guy sitting at home can pay hundreds of dollars for software, they'll take his money, too.

To a company like Microsoft, they'd prefer that home users steal its software and become familiar with it rather than use anything else. That way, when those same people go to work, they'll demand their bosses pay for the programs they know.