POLL: Immoral Purchase?

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would buying the game be unethical or immoral?

  • absolutely. you knowingly bought something that was stolen.

  • no. it wasn't stolen. it found and rescued before it could be destroyed.


Results are only viewable after voting.

Ruptga

Lifer
Aug 3, 2006
10,246
207
106
It's a-ok, my reasoning is:
The point of not buying stolen stuff is to not reward thieves.
The guy this was bought from had no connection to the thieves.
Therefore buying from him was not rewarding a thief.
Therefore morality has nothing to say on this transaction.

It's irrelevant that the game was incredibly old merchandise that the (probable) rightful owner wouldn't have wanted anyway. For a modern example, saying that something owned can be taken because it isn't/won't/can't be used is exactly what the humans argued in Avatar.
 

KeithTalent

Elite Member | Administrator | No Lifer
Administrator
Nov 30, 2005
50,231
118
116
Damn, I thought it said Immortal Purchase! I was thinking hell yeah, since there can be only one, it may as well be you.

KT
 

SithSolo1

Diamond Member
Mar 19, 2001
7,740
11
81
In the big grand scheme of things it probably won't buy you an express ticket to hell and Wal-mart's product loss insurance(not sure of the technical term) has already written it off on their end. That said the item was taken from the store without being purchased and thus is stolen property.
 

guyver01

Lifer
Sep 25, 2000
22,135
5
61
WWF Wrestlemania for NES came out in January 1989.... at this point, in May 2010, the item is no longer in ANY store's inventory.

Hell... Akklaim Entertainment went DEFUNCT in 2004... so the company whose property MIGHT have been stolen... hasn't existed for 6 years.

It's a NON ISSUE.
 

Kadarin

Lifer
Nov 23, 2001
44,296
16
81
In this particular case, based on the info in the OP we're talking about merchandise that's long abandoned and written off. Therefore, no moral conundrum.
 

tk149

Diamond Member
Apr 3, 2002
7,253
1
0
Unless the Craigslist guy offered to return the game to WalMart before offering it to you, then yes, it's unethical. Would WalMart probably have said, "Keep it"? Yes. But they did not even get that chance.
 

geecee

Platinum Member
Jan 14, 2003
2,383
43
91
Thinking about the morality of this is pointless. What if you had no idea that employees stuck items in the ceiling panels in order to steal them? Until I had read that in the thread, I had no idea. What if this guy had just said he found it while demolishing an old building? Would there be any question of immorality then? Probably not.

Aren't you just assuming an intent to steal, anyway? What if an employee knew it was a hot Christmas item that might sell out, put it in the ceiling to just to hide it from other employees/customers with the full intention of purchasing it later, and then just forgot about it?
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,920
46
91
Walmart wouldn't have wanted it back any more than they would have wanted the ceiling tiles back. It's garbage to them. If he tried to give it back to Walmart some employee would have just taken it, because what's Walmart going to do with it?

If this was a copy of Zelda sealed in the box, then the guy should have made an effort to give it back.