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They spent some social capital, but they're still in the black.

Since when did stealing become 'spending social capital'?

Its this type of perspective that encourages our community to condone activities that we would frown upon in other circumstances.

"Did I gain more than I lost?" isn't the type of hacker we should be striving to be.

After they took people's contact info without asking, they had to make it up to their customers. They deleted the info immediately, updated the app, and issued a sincere apology. This is the opposite of "condoning" their actions.

I think their return volley on this was pretty solid. They made a mistake. Did they know they were making it and did they do it deliberately? I am probably naive here, but I don't think they did.

Last time I checked not knowing the law isn't a valid excuse to break the law.*

*I'm not a lawyer but wouldn't be surprised if what they did is illegal.

When it comes to criminal law, you'd be surprised how many offenses require criminal intent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intention_(criminal_law)

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