To be theft, there has to be property

This
"It is not only because there can be potentially infinite owners of property that the internet redefines our notion of it. It is also that people who participate in the exchange of immaterial works do not treat them as property. When they exchange music, books or movies, they are not merely transferring ownership from themselves to others; they simply do not recognise themselves as owners in the first place."
is the crux of the argument that Alexandros Stavrakos makes in this article<=/a>, having disposed of the other contenders for discussion. I'm really quite excited about the prospect: I really like the idea. However, I pause; there's a little voice inside asking whether this is really the case. That's not to say it isn't, but this is where some research would come in handy. It may be that in these circumstances we tend to think of ourselves as 'users' rather than 'owners'.

It may be analogous to listening to a radio where I don't own the music I hear, but I do consume it but at negligible cost to myself at the point of usage. Or is it like water from the tap: I use it and it runs away; I could put it in a container and own it or even a bottle and maybe sell it, but in practice because (in the UK) it is abundant 'ownership' seems redundant, so I use it.

Perhaps this highlight that the real issue is to find an appropriate model or metaphor by which to understand digital rights particularly in the light of the comment in the next paragraph about the costliness of sharing, in some cases and the f'act that with replicating stuff like digital stuff (rather like love) one is not deprived by someone else's having it (which is where the water analogy could break down).

in reference to:

"It is not only because there can be potentially infinite owners of property that the internet redefines our notion of it. It is also that people who participate in the exchange of immaterial works do not treat them as property. When they exchange music, books or movies, they are not merely transferring ownership from themselves to others; they simply do not recognise themselves as owners in the first place."
- When piracy isn't theft | Alexandros Stavrakas | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk (view on Google Sidewiki)