Re: What do the beancounters say about the value
I don't know the legal definition of theft, but since most information is digital nowadays, anyone obtaining an illicit copy of information is not depriving the original owner of their information. They are instead depriving them of control of the use of that information, which for a business could result in lost sales or give an advantage to a competitor. In this instance, the value of the loss is substantially more than one retail unit cost of a console or game, but will be less than the total development cost - which likely is hundreds of millions of dollars.
Copying the source code is like finding the secret recipe of a renowned soft drink, rather than obtaining the drink without payment.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
