by George Barclay

Elaine is banned from public statement for a while, so I have been invited as a guest blogger.

When did we decide that law equals morality?

Where I come from, we have principles. The fundamental one being Don’t Screw the Customer. If you’re an early-stage company, the customer is all you’ve got.

Older companies that are big and dominant and have cornered the market can afford to screw the customer. Not that they should, but some do.

I don’t come from this second world, but I understand that laws were written with the expectation that some players can afford to screw the customer, and then they do.

Certain activities often indicate an intent to screw the customer, therefore society writes rules to prevent these activities.

When a rule is broken, it is difficult to determine the intention behind the activity. So we blanket-prosecute everyone who does that activity. Until there is a way to determine intention, this is how things must work.

Unfortunately, laws sometimes begin to shape morals. Especially when disobeying authority is considered immoral. And we forget that society started with principles, that only later became contorted into law.