Well, your self righteousness might be a tad misplaced. Let me explain. I know people, small charities and welfare organizations, who need to use computers for work but barely have the money. When they get donations, they spend it on something like feeding the poor rather than buying a copy of Windows.
Its easy to take the moral high-ground...and classify the world in four scenarios - many more exist.
So now insisting on honesty and ethics in business is "self righteousness"? I really don't know how to respond to that.
Your example of the charity is the pure definition of situational ethics. I guess you can rationalize any kind of wrong behavior if you tried hard enough. Just out of curiousity, I wonder how clergy people would react to receiving stolen goods to benefit their charity.
"Its easy to take the moral high-ground"
No, it's easy to flow with the crowd. Sometimes it's really hard to stick with your convictions. Have you read this thread?
First off, I regret using the tone I have used in my previous post because it seems to have made you angry.
My point is that your discussions on a bulletin board doesn't change ground realities. Some piracy exists because there seems to be a valid need, needless to say that some piracy exists to fulfill greed. The high dependence on computing in todays world has forced people to use software - most of which, especially for the not so technically inclined, is expensive. Outside of the US, a copy of windows is more expensive than one months earnings. The whole problem is not as binary as you suggest.
Stuff you pointed out that has nothing to do with this discussion -
* 'Situational Ethics' is the kind of term that applies only in a intellectual masturbation of this sort.
* Clergy are not the only people doing charity.
* Your convictions are not my convictions.
PS: I wonder if you have any MP3s of songs that you never purchased. Honestly...
