Was going to step pretty much out of this thread completely, but since you addressed me specifically [and with a fairly courteous query, I may add], I'll drop back in to address it. Hopefully in the same tone and vein in which it was asked. "But is it always wrong to offer an amnesty? " No, it is not always wrong. I've seen governments extend amnesty to criminals with good results [historically], and sometimes spectacularly bad results. I've seen amnesty extended to soldiers whose only "crime" was just that they were fighting on the opposite or "wrong" side of a revolution or military action. [Wrong in the historical context that the "right" side is determined by the winner - they write the history books. Not justifying that, just observing it] I've seen blanket amnesties extended to the perpetrators of what are generally considered "victimless" crimes - prostitution, whathave you. Some of those are sucessful, some of those aren't. The concept of extending an amnesty legetimating members ofwhat to me amounts to an illicit industry isn't really analaguous to any of the the above situations, at least from my perception. This is not a victimless crime. Warez does a great deal of damage to small store front vendors including Renderosity, Commune, Renderotica, BBAy and Daz merchant. It does a significant amount of damage to small companies like Daz and CuriousLabs. I pretty well stated my views on how the bulk of the hardcore pirate community will look at that, so I won't rehash them here. Several other people have stated similar observations. All I can state is that in my opinion and experience, wether an amnesty is right or wrong is only determined on a purely individual, case by case basis, not on a blanket basis. My attitudes are shaped by my past, my life experience, and my backgrounds in various things. All of those combine to give me the general attitude that you don't reward wrongdoing. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, and I apologise, but that's the way I see it. In my experiences, doing so always gives a seal of approval to what your rewarding, wether it's an intentional seal of approval or not. Giving something a seal of approval says to other people that it's ok if they do it, and hey... down the line we'll get a seal of approval also. shrug I am not holier than though on this. It would be stupid and hypocritcal for me to be so. I've stated in other places that I'm a recovering addict, and that I was a street kid and a thug when I was a lot younger. You can read into that if you wish that I've probably done a number of things in the past that weren't precisely lawabiding, and I won't naysay you if you do. It took me a long, long time, and a lot of pain to get to a point where I was someone capable of having integrity, or worth being respected by other people. What I will say is that I strongly believe in personal rights coupled with personal responsibility. If I choose to do something that is legally considered wrong, I decide at the time if I'm willing to accept the consequences. If the answer is "no", I choose otherwise. If I choose to do it, I make the choice to accept what goes with the territory. I can look over that and it's rambling in some points. I guess what I was trying to get at in that last section is an explanation of why my stances on some things seem pretty hard. It's because it is black and white to me. My experiences have shaped me to look at it that way, and my continued recovery [as an addict] depends on my continuing to choose along a lot of black and white paths - drink/ don't drink, do or don't harm orther/choose to make ammends if I do. I don't have the luxury of living in grey. That black and white view shapes how I look at a companies responsibilities to it's customers. I treat my clients right to the best of my current ability, and they come back to do business with me again. If I choose to not do so, I choose to lose the confidence of my clients. If I inadverdantly do something that dmages a client, I do my best to make it right. Or I deal with the fallout from not dong so. As a result, I tend to expect other businesses to do likewise, or get called on it when they don't. I hope somewheres in all of that I managed to answer the question. ;]

"I am a good person now and it feels... well, pretty much the same as I felt before (except that the headaches have gone away now that I'm not wearing control top pantyhose on my head anymore)"

• Monkeysmell