I know bringing things from the real world into the digital realm often results in badly overstretched metaphors. Allow me this one; are your belongings really yours if you forget to lock the door?
Edit: it's even stronger in this case, because it's your own equipment that is providing the data to anyone who asks politely (using industry-standard requests and no impersonation or other fraud).
Practically, it depends on where you live. In major urban areas: no they're gone and they probably aren't coming back. Insurance might replace some of them.
In the sticks? Most people don't lock their doors, even if they shut them.
> I know bringing things from the real world into the digital realm often results in badly overstretched metaphors.
Except this metaphor is already stretched beyond breaking. An index isn't even a copy.
Copying a set of publicly available read-only files is not theft (you still have your copy I haven't deprived you of it).
But we're not even talking about copying your files, just the names you've assigned to them. And in his proposed form, even allowing you to remove the names from our index.
Pretty kind treatment for a copy that you've given me when I asked for it.
oh god this again