if you're repelled by the idea of government-sanctioned agents of Big Content acting as copyright enforcement vigilantes and bounty-hunters, allow yourself a moment of guilty pleasure: the Register caught Ranger Online in flagrante with purloined digital content on its web site.

That's right, our righteous copyright enforcement team is a copyright rip-off. Until hours ago, they were exhibiting content from MSNBCi, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Guardian and ZD-Net as if it were their own.

any TiVo-owning, commercial-skipping employees of Ranger and its ilk are welcome to e-mail me (anonymity guaranteed) -- i'd love to hear what these places are like from the insider's perspective.