The Elements for the Establishment of the Crime of Theft

In ancient times, the crime of stealing required the combination of three factors: intention, bodily action, and the object leaving its original place — if any one was missing, the offense was not established. If one moved an object elsewhere without intention, it does not count as stealing; if one had the intention and used the body to steal, but the object did not leave its original place, it does not count as stealing; if one had the intention to steal and the object left its original place, but one did not take it with one's own body, instead having someone else take it on one's behalf, it still counts as stealing; or using mantras to make the object leave its original place counts as stealing; or using mental power, supernatural powers, and other such means to make the object leave its original place counts as stealing — apart from these, it does not count as stealing.

In modern society, stolen objects also include those without physical form, which do not involve the requirement of the object leaving its original place; but if the ownership or right of use of the object ultimately becomes one's own, this also counts as a form of the object leaving its original place, and thus constitutes stealing — the "original place" refers to the place of the original owner.

Modern technology is highly developed, so one can steal and pilfer without using the body; objects can be not only tangible and visible, but also intangible and formless. For example, information, technology, software, documents, patents, and so on — including stealing fame, stealing reputation, credit, awards, resources, and so on. In such cases, although the object has not left its original place, the information has entered one's own mind, and the reputation, fame, technology, etc. have been transferred and become one's own possession — that counts as stealing; or copying information and text also counts as stealing. Any act of appropriation without the permission of the original owner constitutes stealing.

In a fiercely competitive society, groups large and small at every level, in order to compete for human resources, material resources, and technological and informational resources, resort to every conceivable means. Any forcible appropriation that the other party does not permit and guards against constitutes stealing. In particular, spies between nations — their profession is precisely a profession of stealing, with extreme secrecy.