Author: Bruce Moreland
Date: 20:54:53 08/07/01
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On August 07, 2001 at 22:56:08, Ricardo Gibert wrote: >On August 07, 2001 at 19:01:55, Bruce Moreland wrote: >>What bothers me when people say, "I saw these terms, but I choose to break them, >>and this is alright because <fill in the blank>." That's a transparent attempt >>to *avoid* responsibility. > > >I'm uncomfortable with your way of looking at things. For instance, suppose >there is law that requires exposing Jews for extermination. As you can see, >there are good reasons that can "<fill in the blank>" quite well. This is an abhorent example. You compare not stealing software with gassing people. Of course I wouldn't argue that anyone should follow such a law. This can be flipped around to make equally abhorent examples the other way, but I won't do that. My point is that the terms are broken for personal gain, but there is some excuse so that the person doesn't have to consider themselves a thief. People steal the software not as social protest against Microsoft, but to save money. These people who are arguing this would happily buy multiple copies of this stuff if by some economic quirk there was a 200% rebate. >In the case of Microsoft, if one believes they are a monopoly, I can see how >someone might believe they are justified in not following Microsofts dictates if >they feel Microsoft does the public (and them) harm as a monopoly. Whether they >are really justified (or whether it is "wise" to to defy Microsoft) is a >different story, but I would not say they are way off base. I think that it's too convenient to say that if a company does this or that objectionable thing, that it's okay to steal from them. "This company desecrates the rain forest, therefore I am morally justified in stealing money from them." Come on. The company's behavior is just a lame excuse to benefit personally. bruce
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