Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site eosp1.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!harpo!ulysses!allegra!princeton!eosp1!elias From: elias@eosp1.UUCP (Doug Elias) Newsgroups: net.flame Subject: "thieves" Message-ID: <699@eosp1.UUCP> Date: Fri, 16-Mar-84 10:08:12 EST Article-I.D.: eosp1.699 Posted: Fri Mar 16 10:08:12 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 17-Mar-84 03:21:55 EST Distribution: net.general Organization: Exxon Office Systems, Princeton, NJ Lines: 49 * ...the poor slob who restarted all this mess by RE-posting the lyrics to some piece of schlok, in response to a request by another netter who hadn't saved it the first time around, happens to be my office-mate; i have nothing to add to the legalistic garbaj pertaining to copywriting, and have no doubt that the opinions stated by Byron and Tim are indeed a fair representation of the way the law reads...what i'd like you to do is the following: take some poor schmoe you work with, whom you have a high regard for, who has never given any evidence of malfeasance or maliciousness, who is relatively new to the net, and who inadvertantly makes an error in judgement while attempting to do someone else a favor; now: how would YOU feel to hear someone else, who has never met him, knows nothing about his character, and nothing more about the situation than the fact that a "law" has been bent if not broken, start screaming about "thieves"... ...i'm not asking for a legal or moral opinion; i'm interested in your gut- level reaction to an attack on the integrity of an individual, based solely on a single event, and with no recognition of the concept of "ignorance"... ...i'm very much aware of the caveat "Ignorance of the law ..."; that's only one of the many things i have against the way this society views such matters; personally, i've always found Socrates' opinion on this to be much more to my liking, especially in dealing with those situations where there is a good chance that no intention-to-harm was present: "If my offense was unintentional, then Society should have no cognizance of an unintentional offense." (paraphrased, but the thought's there) ...tell me, are you the type who would pour the hemlock? and were you to ever find yourself in a similar situation, how would you feel to be similarly treated? "When Tao is lost, "compassion" becomes doctrine; when compassion is lost, "justice" becomes doctrine; when "justice" is lost, ritual becomes doctrine; ritual is the slow loss of loyalty, the beginning of unprincipled confusion" Tao Teh Ching, sutra 38 ...where do you think comments about my friend's character fit into the above? doug