somebody wrote:
> "andrel" <a_l### [at] hotmailcom> wrote in message
> news:4A2### [at] hotmailcom...
>> On 9-6-2009 22:49, Shay wrote:
> 
>>>   C. Cable f's up during a favorite television program - go find a
>>> torrent and download it.
> 
>> Morally equivalent to B from your point of view.
> 
> I'm not sure. Maybe if you believe in cosmic justice or somesort. Why does a
> failure some place give a moral free pass to make up for it?
> 
> What about:
> 
> C2. Power company f's up during a favorite television program - go find a
> torrent and download it.
> 
> or
> 
> C3. Some punks make the building's fire alarm go off during a favorite
> television program - go find a torrent and download it.
> 
> or
> 
> C4. A spill on the freeway blocks traffic for hours, making you miss your
> favorite television program - go find a torrent and download it.
> 
> or
> 
> C5. Recession causes you to be laid off and you cannot afford cable
> anymore - go find a torrent and download it.
> 
> ... etc.

C6. I just plain forgot to record it - go find a torrent and download it.

Same thing as far as I'm concerned. And even though I have paid for 
cable, the recording I download from the net will be without 
advertisements. So, I'm "screwing" the advertisers and "screwing" the 
guy who MAY SOMEDAY put the recording on DVD.

So, this act is "wrong" in the sense that it is amoral in the 
black-and-white religious sense of morality -- someone, somewhere was 
hurt by the act. However, if one looks at morality as a set of 
guidelines which have emerged as the best way for people to have a 
trusting, pleasant society, then the act is perfectly acceptable. Better 
than just acceptable even -- positive. My downloading the missed episode 
leaves me more inclined to watch future episodes, to continue to pay for 
cable, to continue to watch the network's advertisements.

The world is a better place when a person can pick a loquat from a tree 
in someone's front yard, listen to a an obscure "album" released on 
cassette only in 1980, occasionally shout loud enough for a neighbor to 
hear, drink from a hose-bib in an alleyway, or get a second chance to 
correct a tiny mistake. These things aren't wrong.

> The bottomline is, one can for the majority of time find somebody or
> something else to blame for everything, if so inclined.

Another bottom line: one can for the majority of time find somebody or 
something who was victimized by any act, if so inclined.

  -Shay

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