Nope, still not a good analogy.
By putting the soap in the bathroom, they put some soap in their hotel room. That doesn't mean you have the right to take it out of the hotel room. Do you have the right to take the television? It doesn't matter how much it cost.
I like the old analogies.
1) Hacking into a system is not like breaking into a house and stealing the jewels. It's more like looking through the window and seeing a winning lottery number.
2) Downloading music online is not like stealing CD's from the music store. It's more like reading the newspaper that someone left on the bus, oh and maybe making a copy with the special elite 9000DPI possibly-virus-infected portable ultralight camouflaged optical character recognizing handheld scanner which you, of course, being the super 1337 and ultra hip Civil Disobedient you are, never leave home without.
They can arrest you for taking the soap. They just don't because it would be awful for public relations. Yes PR is the reason, not because it didn't cost them anything or because they don't care about the soap, it's because of PR, otherwise they would arrest you. Does McDonald's still give you ketchup if you don't ask? No. The ketchup packets cost money. So do bars of soap. Remember: hotels are corporations, and corporations (at least ones who have to deal with the public) don't make money without looking like they have a heart. But the heart is fake, don't fall for it.
Similarly, arresting someone for downloading a song is a bad idea. Better to make their connection not work as well afterward. Better to fine them, make them waste their time in court, better to send a letter to their address and cause some fear and drama, better to tell their school that they are degenerate lowlives, better to spam congress and other cultural outlets about the depravity of today's children...
it's the same ol... I'm amazed, authority is not so scared that it won't allow itself a name anymore...
