[tfm]

In this particular case it could be argued that Google's unofficial "don't be evil" motto explicitly framed this as a moral issue. Tongue-in-cheek, to be sure, but certainly an appeal to happy squishy emotions.

That said, RMS's stuff is showing up in a few posts today, and framing as a moral issue is certainly a large part of his standard toolkit. Considering any situation from an ethical viewpoint tends to make my eyes roll and skin crawl (ooh, the moral dimensions of public hygiene? yes please!), but appealing to hearts and minds is pretty basic old-school rhetorical technique.

If nothing else, coming from a technical background, it's occasionally useful to come at the problems from a different, squishier, direction.