Steerpike wrote: People tend to obey the law because they think it benefits them more to obey the law than not to. With that said, if you think breaking the law is more beneficial to you, then there's nothing stopping you. The law only has as much power over the choices you make as you let it. The law may provide consequences for you choice, but it doesn't stop you from making that choice.
Sounds about right, but it seems to me that some people make some very odd choices about which laws they choose to obey. Having said that, what I see as an odd choice might seem to them to be perfectly logical. It strikes me that this is where 'law' as a guide to what is right or wrong breaks down, which takes us back to 'what is right and wrong?' The biblical 10 commandments might be a good starting point, but then our law makers wouldn't want to be so restricted by such simplistic a rule as 'do not steal'. Define stealing! What can be stolen? Is tax theft? I could argue that it is! I get taxed by a government that do not represent me, nor most of the population, and doesn't use the money in a responsible manner. As they don't keep to there side of the deal, is my tax 'stolen' from me under false pretences?
I suppose in the context of HTS, you can steal information, but if you don't remove the information from the source, have you actually stolen anything?
