On the one hand, there are what might be called “fundamentalist libertarians”. Two rival camps dominate public discussion around the ethics of illegal downloading. So appeal only to the illegality of downloading doesn’t settle whether it is okay, morally speaking.
Rather, they tend to think the laws governing these behaviours were unjust. Same-sex relationships, divorce and many other practices that are now widely accepted as morally acceptable were once outlawed and criminally sanctioned.įew people think they were wrong just before they were legalised. But there are many things that have been illegal that people don’t think are morally wrong. It might seem obvious that what they will do is wrong. But will they be doing anything morally wrong?
Legally speaking, what they will be doing is a violation of intellectual property rights, or “piracy”. Many millions of people throughout the world will illegally download the fifth season of Game of Thrones, released today by HBO.
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