I think this issue deserves more thought and introspection than Ariely seems to have given it so far. I think grecy's comparison to Catholicism is very strikin

I think this issue deserves more thought and introspection than Ariely seems to have given it so far. I think grecy's comparison to Catholicism is very striking. One common criticism of Christian religions is centered on the idea of "original sin" -- the idea that people are inherently evil and need to be saved. A similar criticism could (and maybe should) be applied to any law that is broken by a large number of citizens. When this happens, I would take it as a sign that there is something wrong with the law, not with people. But anyway, the key thing is that Ariely seems to have a really exciting research question here, which is how and why do people rationalize illegal downloading, and he seems to be tossing it away in favor of dictating morality at them through a megaphone.