Morals vs Law.

I was discussing with a friend of mine today about the morals of downloading American series off the Internet. The whole topic was sparked off because she was watching Mad Men via a streaming site and lost the connection midway. I suggested torrenting it to save all the pain, and somehow it led to the morality of downloading material off the Net.

Well, to be sure, it's illegal due to licensing infringements and all, but is it actually immoral?

All too often we equate the law with morality, almost as if the law is our conscience. Well, the truth is, a lot of immoral things are legal, and a lot of what is considered illegal is well, not immoral. Take for example the speed limit on a road. You would get a traffic summon if you sped beyond 10 km/h. But what is the difference between travelling at 90km/h and 91km/h? Well, none. I hope you didn't start beating yourself up because you did something immoral!

That said, I didn't have a problem with what my friend felt about downloading stuff off the Net. Just a thought that popped into my head that I felt I could share =)