[MrBurns]

I can see that you're getting pretty passionate about this thread rogerjin and I repect that! I actually started this post to get the most honest feedback I could get and I want to thank you for it. Having said that, here's a purely hypothetical question. Up to what point can you say that it's okay to steal and idea? Say we hypothetically give this guy three years to launch his pet project. Three years later we meet him again and it's still not launched. Can we say that if he didn't develop it in three years then it's up for grabs? That he got his chance and the next guy should seize his opportunity? The reason why I'm saying this is because contrary to you, I believe that the line between what is moral and what is immoral is not always as clear as you suggest it is.

[dnlhoust]

not to answer for roger, but in my eyes: You're right. Being immoral isn't black and white, in this case it's a line drawn in relation to your relationship to the friend you're considering stealing from. Now it's clear he obviously holds some value in the friendship since he's willing to fully disclose his ideas to you, ideas which he likely plans to do work on. By stealing his ideas you're not only robbing him of something he cares about and a potential income/customer base etc, but you're also betraying that friendship.

Your example of waiting 3 years is a valid one, the reason why the morality changes is because after 3 years he likely will care less about the idea (I mean he didn't do anything with it for 3 years, right?) because it's become apparent he doesn't care much about it, the robbing and betrayal have less of an impact, to the point where it's so much less of a deal that it's just overwritten by you friendship