If Android is a "stolen product," then so was the iPhone (ars technica)

This sort of thing is what I think of as 'Lawyering'. It's the use of mixed metaphors and analogies that is used to confuse people. They are used to present circular arguments and assumption logic with a air of logical simplicity while they are obviously erroneous if presented in a direct manner.

That is why they use 'stolen', 'theft', 'piracy', etc etc. It seems simple enough. But it's not. It's lies and and deception.

Any sort of discussion involving so-called 'intellectual property' is rife with these sort of 'lawyering' tactics. It's very irritating and makes it almost impossible to have a proper discussion of it. People apt to repeat straw arguments, bad analogies, and mystical/magical thinking over and over again as logical defense for copyrights and patents.

etc. etc. etc. I could go on all day.

In reality all this 'IP' bullshit really amounts to is a attempt to create a thin layer of legitimacy for various cynical and self-aware political forces that desire to use of Government force to reduce competition, ensure profitability over obsolete business models, and control the actions and lives of millions of people and hundreds of thousands of businesses to achieve those aims. blah blah blah.

It is really quite terrible.

On a side note:
Most people will probably find this very educational and interesting, if you don't mind having to use mp3s ;)

http://mises.org/media/2434/What-Is-Fascism

I think that it's critical that all Americans understand that fascism is not just epithet.