Sharing Isn't Always Nice

Kids with siblings, in daycare, or at school are often admonished to be nice and share their toys, playground equipment, or school supplies. But when it comes to sharing that great piece of software you just bought or asking a friend to send you copies of some of the fonts that he got from a friend of a friend... that's not necessarily the nicest thing to do.

Before you dismiss a little copyright violation or software piracy as hurting only the typeface designer or some big software company "who can afford it and charges too much anyway" read Chuck Green's The Suicide of Design.

There are legitimate ways to obtain free software and plenty of really free fonts and clip art available. But when there's a price tag attached, playing nice means paying the price.

What do you think? Are a few fonts between friends OK? Do the big software companies deserve to be ripped off?