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Originally Posted by HarryT
Utterly irrelevant. "I can't afford it" does not equate to "... so it's fine if I just take it anyway without paying".
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Whereas I understand you are a stakeholder in the copyright/downloading debate, I am a bit surprised you have this point of view based what you have expressed on other subjects.
I live in a jurisdiction where downloading is legal. In Switzerland downloading ebooks, music and software for private use is allowed. That's not because laws haven't kept up with technological development, but because law-makers have consciously decided that downloading above-mentioned material for private use can be considered fair use.
When discussing corporate tax evasion you voice the opinion that companies using international law and loopholes are not acting unethically when using, for example, the rather light Swiss tax-regime instead of paying what they would be due in the UK. You argue it is their responsibility to reduce their tax burden to the minimum that is legally required. Personally, I also try to avoid paying more taxes than is necessary. Could the same principle not be applied to other areas of live?
If I can legally download the Hobbit movie for free applying Swiss law, is that really more unethical than Warner using another Swiss law to reduce their US tax burden?
Just for clarity, I will wait for the extended version of the Hobbit coming late fall, and will pay the 50 CHF or so for the DVDs. With regards to ebooks, I try to get them from libraries and otherwise buy them legally. Only for books available from Gutenberg, MobileRead, ebooksgratuites.com etc. that are still in copyright here, but public domain elsewhere I download them without feeling too guilty.