Perhaps it’s the influence of Lent, but I’m filled with the spirit of penitence. And in totting up my transgressions, it struck me that it’s hard not to sin in the converging industries of telecoms, media and IT - either personally, or professionally.

Clap me in irons, but I’m a Wifi piggybacker, shameless in the theft of bandwidth from those with unguarded networks. And in the bad old days before VOIP, I happily used callback services on my travels to reduce telephony costs.

In the late 1990s, the pan-European operator for which I then worked eagerly monetized bandwidth swaps with its peers. It made our balance sheet look good, and our highly-paid accountants advocated it. We also weren’t shy in refiling voice traffic via various island-based operators with favorable onward settlement rates.

Of course, there’s a difference between sins of omission, and sins of commission. But the problem is that what’s defined as a good, bad or just plain iffy can radically change in fluid industry environments.

Take the model of software as a service. I spoke today with a leading European service provider rolling out a rich package of hosted IT services to small and medium-sized businesses.

In a disarming exchange, the SMB outsourcing director explained some subtleties around his pricing model. The service provider had found that two out of three European SMBs they’d contracted were actually running at least one unauthorized copy of Microsoft Office. That’s why it set two prices for those taking up hosted Office, charging a higher per user fee when no official license existed to transition to SaaS.

So what about Microsoft recouping lost revenues from SMBs with pirated copies? Would the service provider dob in the guilty? Answer: Bounty hunting isn’t their business. But as SaaS takeup grows - standing at a third of UK SMBs and 60% of large European enterprises according to Yankee Group surveys - will it remain ok to wash our hands of such matters?

Drawing lines of responsibility is never easy. Ten years ago, the landmark pornography case between Compuserve and the German courts ignited a broader debate that remains alive today about legal responsibility for content, tools and applications that people might obtain and use in digital environments.

Whether it’s using an unofficial IM system to discuss company issues, sharing files outside the corporate firewall via Google Groups, or storing personal content on a company server, you’re probably breaking a law and making your employer liable.

Dealing with the mea culpa is one thing, but the cui bono of complex digital legalities remains perplexing when noone - personally or corporately - is fit to cast the first stone.