Originally Posted by
Palem
The clear difference here is that when I pirate software or a song, or jaywalk, or eat a grape in the store, I know that what I'm doing is illegal and if someone would confront me about them, I'd acknowledge that what I'm doing isn't legal. I wouldn't jump into some lame defensive argument about how lots of people are doing that thing and don't get punished so really I'm not doing anything illegal.
Do I consider myself a "criminal" for those things? No, but I acknowledge the reality of the situation and if someone wants to press it then I'm happy to admit that I am technically a criminal (as most are). Same thing with people who traded. I get why they traded. It's not like anyone is saying they should be barred from the game or something. That being said, don't act like what you were doing wasn't against the rules and you didn't have a distinct advantage over people that were playing by the rules.