Quote Originally Posted by Cavebear58 View Post
... what one person considers ethical another considers uncommercial, and what one considers unethical another considers business as normal.

I would argue that it is as unethical to create a misleading impression of one's corporate heritage as it is to copy pictures of a competitor's products, but it is still just my interpretation of 'ethical'.

Cheers, Graham.
I personally don't see a 'MAJOR' (if any) unethical nature of trying to tie the name of your business to tug at the heartstrings of a country or region (when it relates to the product you're selling). LOTS of businesses inside and outside of Scotland do this... Gaelic Themes (scotland), Great Highlandwear (Pakistan), Heritage of Scotland (Scotland selling Pakistani Kilts), Skye Highland Outfitters (US)...

In Colorado, there's a WATER company that is named the Highland Water Company (http://totemdenver.blogspot.com/2006...y-company.html). They have water delivered by men in Kilts. They have NOTHING to do with Scotland. Is this 'unethical'?

By that method of thinking, you could say that 'any company using a name having ANYTHING to do with Scotland or Ireland that is based outside of Scotland / Ireland is unethical'. Is Matt Newsome 'unethical' for running the 'Scottish Tartans Museum' in the USA? I don't think he is.

I think we should stick to Matt's original point as he's the one who started the thread... businesses STEALING pictures and STEALING descriptions and STEALING designs who PURPOSEFULLY mislead customers are theives. Period. In my mind, that's a pretty black and white ethical issue.