First of all, thank you to everybody who replied, both on and off-list.
On 07/01/2020 12:38, ao402...@gmail.com wrote:
[..]
To abstract the object.
I had independently come up with that word - but ao402468 published
first. Darn, but not liver-gnawing time :)
Words people have come up with:
steal
pirate
leak
plagiarise
breach
mirror
clone
replicate
image
intercept
disseminate
breach
transgress
microfilm
xerox
exfiltrate
decrypt
expose
disclose
compromise
extract
copy
pinch
crib
abstract
"Copy" is good, and obvious, but doesn't have the emotional connotations
of stealing: scenario, you are a secure database operator/designer and
someone has - "whatevered" - your data. You are right royally pi**ed off
and want to nail the f#*#*#*s to a wall and stick knitting needles in
their bellies and watch them die slowly and insane from peritonitis. If
you can keep yourself from killing the s#!*-gobbing _F$*#S_ sooner.
"Copy" seems a little weak for what they did.
"Crib" and "pinch" are also good, but both have or had a specific crypto
meaning, "crib" being a known or guessed plaintext, and "pinch" meaning
crypto things stolen by non-cryptanalytic means. Both are a little weak.
Both are also a bit skoolboyish.
I think "abstract" is probably the best word available, but am a little
worried that most people will not be aware of the secondary meaning of
abstract. It doesn't necessarily involve dishonesty, but it is sometimes
used that way - eg abstraction of electricity, an offense under UK law;
you can't steal electricity as it is not a thing, so the offense is
"abstraction" not "theft".
Any further thoughts? This usage will eventually go in a book, which
probably no-one will ever read, but if they do you may end up using
whatever the final choice is...
Again, thank you all for your help.
;-)
Peter Fairbrother
