Stick To The Truth, Please

Blog In Dm, (a blog I respect, incidentally,) attacks me to day in this post.

Lets take it apart, piece by piece.

First, the title,

Yosef Greenberg Calls Halacha Unethical. Is It?

Um, where exactly did I do that? By stating that Halachah might allow copying music? This is purely an intellectual question (with practical ramifications). Since when is copying music unethical? Because by your standards, it isn't. Well, here's some new for you, the Torah's ethics don't necessarily coincide with your view of proper ethics. Humanity's views have changed, and keep on changing with times.

Many people, in fact, don't consider copying music unethical at all. Yes, reasonable and prominent people too. I'll leave it for you to conjecture other practices with similar qualities.

What is most astounding about this ignorant assertion is his implication that if halacha theoretically permits something that civil law prohibits, and there is no compelling reason not to follow the civil law, it is nevertheless permissible because dina d'malchusa is irrelevant..

Ignorant assertion? Because you disagree with it? In other words, I just won this round.

There is a compelling reason not to follow civil law. Free music. Unless you don't find that compelling.

"because dina d'malchusa is irrelevant". In this case! Please don't stretch my words.

This post is ignorant, because many if not most recognized poskim do maintain that dina demalchusa is quite relevant in the USA today, jaywalkers notwithstanding, and many poskim would also note obvious external issues like chillul Hashem, eiva, etc. that might well apply.

 "dina demalchusa is quite relevant in the USA today." Who said it isn't?

"jaywalkers notwithstanding." Ever thought why?

"obvious external issues like chillul Hashem" Oh please. Chillul Hashem by copying music? First, most cases won't cause any chillul Hashem by any standard. Casual copying, for example.

And its not obvious in general either. I don't think most people would consider unethical either. Or maybe you don't know how rampant the BitTorrent side of the Internet is.

About one third of all Internet traffic is [probably] consumed by BitTorrent users. And thats only one of the p2p options out there. Prominent bloggers openly admit and sometimes encourage such behavior.

Only a handful of poskim maintain that one is permitted to copy software or music for others, and few well-known poskim have said so on the record.

Make that to openly maintain. Yes, the pressure is tough out there. And there is no industry out there to promote it. Unlike the opposing side. Few have said so on the record for the same reason.

Incidentally, these poskim also hold that one may cheat on their taxes and other similar views. Not exactly mainstream, in other words.

Lies. Don't bunch them all into one group. You probably don't know them. And my money is on some very mainstream Rabbonim.

Go ahead Yosef, post the links to the pirate sites you mention. (Do you run one yourself?)

I have no issue doing so, but I'm refraining for your sake, dear blogger. But if I find another prominent music blogger calling for the same then I will, IY'H, do so.

And no, I don't run one myself (yet). But there you go again, trying to infer certain things to reduce credibility.

If you really believe what you write, have the guts to stand behind it.

I do.