RE: Morality and Pirated Software

I can't believe that we're writing about morality on this list :P

What is right and wrong is not clear cut.

If you were well off and had all of your needs taken care of, would you 
steal the food for your dinner? Probably not.

If your world had hit rock bottom and you had nothing to eat and no one 
would help you, would you steal the food for your dinner?
Most likely you would, but you might feel guilty about it.

If you're world had hit rock bottom and had nothing to eat AND your 2 year 
old was crying for food and no one would help you, would you steal the food 
to feed him/her? I doubt you'd hesitate even a second.

You may think I'm trying to lead you down the primrose path. I am. But you 
must understand that right and wrong are a result of necessity. If you have 
no food you must still eat. If the water floods your land you best get on 
the roof, and if you have no tools you still have to work. If software is 
the tool you require then you must get it.

Rules and law are there for a very good reason. They are in place to 
protect society from itself. Yes, they were originally put in place to 
protect the haves from the have nots but the law does tend to trickle down 
to those who need it eventually.

The rules and laws of society are there as a guideline, they are there to 
make you stop and think before you willing break them to gain your goals. 
They are NOT mountains you must climb to see the other side, they are gates 
that you must pause at before you pass through them.

>Now that's just ridiculous.  It is not immoral to be strong enough in your
>convictions to say that your belief is the correct one.  Everyone feels they
>have to be so politically correct that they don't want to say they're not
>going to be swayed by the prevailing morals of the time (or lack thereof).
>Now there may not be a 'great book of morals' but I don't know of any
>religion or civilization that says that stealing is not immoral.

Especially those that are in the government or who are already well off. 
<ain't I cynical>

>I think
>most people feel betrayed when something is stolen from them. I simply don't
>understand why they cannot respect this when it comes to software.

Actually I go and get my stuff back if I can. I've been stolen from a lot. 
<still hold to my views though>

>  Take this into consideration. Let's say you have a recipe book and 
> copied it for your niegbor is it imorral and wrong?
>
>No, but you're missing the point. The value in the cookbook that was sold
>was not in a single recipe, it was in the collection.  If you copied more
>than a few recipies, or say, the whole book, then it is immoral, wrong and
>illegal. You're not just sending a couple of lines of code, you're sending
>the whole thing to someone else.

At exactly what point do you define this line. Microsoft has a huge library 
of programs [the book]. If I share a recipe [ a program ] is it then right 
or wrong. According to the above it's quite all right.
<I love it when people agree with me>

>Have enough convictions in your beliefs to stand up for them.  Learn what is
>right and wrong if you don't know and have the guts to say it!

The wise man knows that he knows nothing.

Anyways, that IS the last I'll say on the subject. Know I said it before :0p

Thomas
    mailto:trumley(at)softhome.net
    http://www.aboveboardlinks.com

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