The Shoplifting reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Shoplifting

Broadly speaking, shoplifting is a term that refers to stealing from a shop, store, or other retail establishment, usually by a patron or customer.

In most states in the United States, shoplifting is a misdemeanor crime of petty larceny when specifically committed against a retail establishment by a patron. The law does not distinguish between shoplifting and other forms of petty larceny, although a judge may consider the context of any crime in sentencing.

In some jurisdictions of the United States, certain egregious instances of shoplifitng involving large dollar amounts of merchandise and/or a high degree of criminal sophistication may be prosecuted and punished as burglary.

A common slang term for shoplifting in America, Britain and Australia is 'Five fingered discount'

Perpetrators often justify shoplifting as a 'victimless crime', but in practice the aggregate cost of shoplifting is covered by the store owners increasing prices to maintain profit. As of 2001 it is estimated that shoplifting costs US retails $25 million a day.

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