Re: [dvd-discuss] Re: TurboTax for free?

[Ken Arromdee <arromdee(at)rahul.net>]

On Wed, 8 Jan 2003, John Zulauf wrote:
> Okay, quadruple indenting... ( the perl to convert a regular thread to
> this is below (and yes it does look like 'C' -- sorry Larry)
> Also, I'm doing my best at a DA argument I'm not fully convinced of
> (legally), I still think that ethically, one doesn't take advantage of
> fools, even fools with lots of money.

I don't know about that.

Assuming the argument is correct, the company is trying to cheat *you*, by
making an end-run around the part of the law which says that unsolicited
merchandise is a gift.  Treating the CD as a gift is simply a refusal to be
cheated.  The desires of the company have no ethical implication for you
since those desires are a part of the desire to cheat you.

It's like this scenario: A swindler offers me a game of 3 card monte, which
is really rigged.  He wants me to win a dollar, get confident, gamble more,
and lose a hundred dollars.  I realize the game is rigged, and deliberately
decide to quit after the first dollar.  Do I have to give the dollar back,
since I obtained it by letting him try to cheat me but outsmarting him?