For millions of people around the world the word of their particular God provides a moral compass for living life in an appropriate manner.
While there are plenty of variations, most faiths agree that it is unacceptable to steal, for example.
Inevitably there are gray areas and the issue of copyright provides a perfect example. Rights Holders constantly push the notion that infringement is theft so it’s no surprise that some people draw the same conclusion.
Over in Turkey the country’s top religious body has been handling the issue at the behest of citizens. Is downloading content without permission from rights holders acceptable under Islam?
In response to a question asking whether the activity is ‘halal’ (permissible), the Religious Affairs Directorate, or Diyanet as it’s known locally, issued a fatwa (ruling).
Great value should be placed on labor and there should be opposition to “unjust enrichment” from the work of others,” Diyanet said.
“The Prophet also stressed the importance of paying for one’s labor on several occasions,” it said, warning that “[property] rights violations [are still common] as technology develops and human labor has started to appear in more diverse forms.”
“Such unfair acts [such as downloading pirated software] not only usurp the individuals’ rights, they also discourage people who work in those sectors from creating new products, turning the matter into a public rights violation in a broader sense,” Diyanet said.
Lets see how the international media and copyrights activists respond to this welcoming decision.
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