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If it matters ethically, then asking the question already provides the answer because foregoing actions which might be gotten away with is what it means to act ethically.

If it matters legally pay your attorney for legal advice, because there is no government agency that enforces licenses, the degree to which a license matters is the degree to which someone is willing to lawyer up.

If it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter.




You're just punting on the question. To rephrase, does it matter ethically, legally, or at all?

(Yes, I understand that if you're basing a business off it then it matters legally differently than if you're just hacking away on a hobby project, but the law covers all things and ethics is not confined to hobbies.)


None of it matters to me enough to pay a lawyer.

Because I am not in the circumstances described in the question.

Or your comment.

All three cases, yours, the article, and mine depend on the specific facts.


> If it matters ethically

When you use the word 'it', are you referring to "giving credit", or the question "Do I need to give credit"?

The former would mean "If giving credit matters ethically, then asking the question provides the answer [which is yes.]". But that's just asking the same question as OP. Does giving credit matter?

The latter would mean "If you felt like you might need to give credit, that the answer to that question matters ethically, then that provides the answer [which is yes, you need to give credit]". But that sounds wrong to me. That kind of logic would turn every positive impulse into an instant obligation.


Every ‘it’ is the same.

Ethical behavior is erring on the side of caution in the face of uncertainty, ambiguity, or doubt.

That’s what makes it ethical behavior.

Giving unnecessary credit is not unethical.


Donating to and volunteering for every good cause you see, every time you see it, will bankrupt you and deprive you of sleep pretty fast.

You can't err on the side of nicety in every single situation.

If an argument depends on there being no cost, then you're not actually making an ethical determination, you're just saying "better safe than sorry".

Caution and ethics are not the same thing.


I didn’t say anything about volunteering.


Your argument was that I should err on the side of ethical behavior every time I'm at all unsure, right?

Donating or volunteering is more ethical than not donating or volunteering, right?

If both of those are true, then every time I consider donating or volunteering I would be obligated to do it.


I have been explaining.

I am not arguing.

It is fine by me for us to have differences of opinion.




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