“But the Supreme Court ruled that software code cannot be a component, since it really is only an abstraction until it is written onto something physical, like a CD-ROM.”

Thanks to the internet, it is possible for an image (which doesn’t even really rise to the level of code) to be viewed on a computer monitor yet never reside on a hard drive or any other physcial medium for that computer. If so, does this image then maintain its status as an “abstraction” and hence not a crime?

Again, this is not my area. Just a strange thought that popped into my mind about the law of unintended consequences.