[mimixco]

I certainly can't argue that you're wrong!

Private communication, even for business, is a human right. I was not suggesting that some authoritarian arm "shut them off," but rather that a profusion of businesses and individuals simply chose to ignore them. Death by recission.

It's also one's right to choose to be in an ethical business or not. I've rejected many customers and employers because I didn't want to help in their aims.

I was among the people who protested IBM's continued involvement in apartheid and it did end before I left. Companies can chose to "not be evil" or they can just say that.

And yes, sadly, everything changes human behavior. What I was going for is that ethics is a practical phenomenon as well as nice one for other people. I still believe that more can be accomplished through volunteerism (including volunteer agreements about money and work rather than coercive ones) than through violence. Perhaps that's naive or hopeful but I hope a few of us persist in keeping the idea alive.