Ethics, Schmethics! Ask Forgiveness, Not Permission
New York Times technology columnist David Pogue raised an ethical question:
His seven year-old daughter was in a dance recital; the school sells a lousy DVD of the performances; he has a Canon S3 IS digital camera that makes great videos. Could he, ethically, make a surreptitious video highlighting his daughter's performance.He put the question to Randy Cohen, writer of the Times' Ethicist column. Cohen suggested he offer to make a better video for the school. Nearly 90 people commented on the blog, including one who said:
"Ethics, shmethics–It’s easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission."
So what did Pogue end up doing?
"I wound up illicitly filming a very short clip of my daughter’s number, about 30 seconds, and also I filmed the curtain call. I would have filmed the whole number, but I chickened out."
06-Jul-2006
By BL Ochman
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