A sign of things to come?

News today on BBC that Roger Friedman has been sacked from the Fox News website for writing a review of the new Wolverine film which he downloaded illegally (along with another estimated 99,999 people).

High stupidity considering the film is a 20th century Fox production, and Friedman must have known what he was doing would lose him his job.

But when journalists are being urged to embrace every technological advantage at their dipsoal to keep our industry relevant, is there a moral grey area here?

I suppose the answer hinges on how many people who would not otherwise have done so were encouraged to download the film after reading this review?

The media were full of stories about the leaking of the film, so it seems unlikely many people were alerted to it by this review.

And what would have happened if the film was made by one of Fox’s rivals? Would they have acted in the same way?

There were bound to be other reviews available on blogs and other sites across the web, but praise should go to Fox for refusing to compromise the ethical correctness which should remain the hallmark of the big media organisations.