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Originally Posted by Wetzel
We are geeks. We take things apart to see how they work(often voiding warenties). We wonder how things work. We revel in the technical.
Wondering how FIRST locked something up is only as natural as wondering how the Innovation FIRST controllers work.
Wetzel
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Curiosity is a good thing. It drive people to use their imagination and problem solving skills. But do that justify what you are trying to find out? Well, it depends. It is great that you have good intentions, in this case, trying to learn something. But sometimes good intention isn't good enough. History told us a lot of people had great intentions when they wanted to do something, but their action were not approved by everyone else because of the consequences of those actions, not because they had good intentions.
In order words, a lot of times the rest of your action determines if you are doing something right or wrong. In this case, if you are trying to crack the pdf files FIRST released ahead of time even though they do not wish anyone to read them before the game is revealed, then you violated their trust. It doesn't matter if you keep it a secret and never say anything about it. You are the one who have to live with your action, and its consequences. If FIRST found out and stop providing the pdfs ahead of time in the future, then your action (that you thought was harmless) affected everyone else in the FIRST community. If FIRST never found out? Well, then you will have to live with it the rest of your life. You can probably brag to your friends what you've accomplished, and some may or may not approve.
You may or may not agree with FIRST in releasing these files ahead of time. What's done is done. The important point is FIRST trusted everyone to wait until Saturday morning. What you do with that trust is up to you.
Like JosephM said, this topic is probably beaten to death. Chances are, FIRST will think twice about it next year. No need to argue what's right or wrong. At the end, all of you is responsible for your own action. It is time like this when you test out who you truely are. I just hope you don't find something you dislike about yourself.
Let's take a break, go get yourself a cup of hot tea (or whatever suits you), sit in front of the fire place or TV, and relax :-). You are about to approach insanity in the next few months. Enjoy your sanity while you can.