Buying an amplifier with the intent to profile it, and return it is unfair to the retailer. The same is true about buying an expensive mic preamp for a specific recording project, and returning it when the tracking for the project is done.
But, that kind of human behavior is not a reflection of what the KPA or the DAW was designed to do.
I find it funny that he goes on and on about how the KPA doesn't sound like the real deal, but makes a massive point on the fact that it's stealing an amp, if it wasn't so good at doing what it does then he shouldn't be worried. I personally could never afford to buy a Diezel amp etc but the KPA has given me the opportunity to play one. Anyone who buys the KPA then buys amps, profiles them and sends them back is morally wrong, but like most things in this world you always get people who spoil things for others. Some people will always shop lift, some people will never buy an album, some people will buy amps, profile them then send them back. But these people could also like Paults mentioned buy the amp track the album within 30 days then send it back. People will always find ways to get things for free, people managed to crack ilok 2 didn't they. Hopefully if you make good enough products, with great customer service and sell them at a good price you will always benefit.
Agree with Raoul above.
I've got a lovely set of knives that I use for cooking. Each one of them could be used to commit a crime. Mine are used for chopping onions....
Over the last year or two he's become increasingly difficult to listen to. He rambles a lot and his interviews are more about him than the guest usually. But to put the video in context, this comes from a guy that constantly pimps guitars and effects that are BLATANT ripoffs of Gibsons, Fenders (Harley Benton) and various famous pedals (Joyo).
If you're going to make any kind of logically consistent ethical argument, you'll need to wipe out 95% of the music industry.
That said, the Kemper is a tool, just like IRs or any other technology that produces a sound. The way that the Kemper achieves that sound is very novel and innovative IN ITS APPROACH, as opposed to a modeler like the AxeFX, which actually does something much closer to what he's complaining about. Namely, it is attempting to COPY a circuit down to the component-level, as much as possible. I'm not saying the AxeFX is not novel or innovative, just that modeling to that degree is much more akin to stealing intellectual property than Kempers approach -- neither of which I find ethically problematic, btw.
People do anything in order to emerge from the average and get some exposure. Sadly, the most successful ones are usually those who stir the pot and bark the loudest...
As for the OP's serious question, a sound can't be patented and this is a fact also supported by past sentences. The KPA copies a sound but doesn't clone any amp, in fact it can't react and work like the amp does once the profile has been loaded (the knobs don't react likewise etc.).
I'd also be (mostly) surprised if Eng. Kemper had started such a project without taking any preliminary precaution and information and thinking it over LOL
The Kemper is another example that human brain is capable to project and realize things far beyond
normal immagination!Only 10 years ago an idea like kemper would make laugh all the guitar and music
world and now they are trying to fight back with all means.Why?Because the kemper steal the soul of an amp!Remember the indians and the 19th century photography perception?The same!
Their problem is that legislation is behind and lost in very old concepts!They try to use those concepts to stop a threat!It will be very difficult!And I immagine one day when the guitar industry will sue a kid who invents
a hot plug guitar pickup capable to steal the soul of a real one and a micro fx board inside it and a kemper
capable to use new algoritms for original and good sounds!After all music is all about sound!
Ethics are one of the first things I thought about when coming across the Kemper Profiler.
I thought - well, if this tech really works - it will save space and waste while reducing the impact of the human tendency to over-produce absolutely everything (including guitar amps and equipment).
In a way, Kemper can reduce a guitarist's environmental impact by allowing him/her to do much more with less. Less materials, no wood (although a wooden Kemper would be nice), and less time, energy, and fuel wasted with lugging enormous and varied rigs. It would be cool to just have one machine that could literally make any sound in the best way possible. Why not? It reduces waste.
New technology kills old technology all the time. In the long run, yes - Kemper may reduce real amp sales. But that's the way things work, and in this case I think it is a good thing for many reasons.
DVD's killed the VCR. Netflix and the internet has killed the DVD. Advanced mobile devices are reducing PC sales.
Display MoreEthics are one of the first things I thought about when coming across the Kemper Profiler.
I thought - well, if this tech really works - it will save space and waste while reducing the impact of the human tendency to over-produce absolutely everything (including guitar amps and equipment).
In a way, Kemper can reduce a guitarist's environmental impact by allowing him/her to do much more with less. Less materials, no wood (although a wooden Kemper would be nice), and less time, energy, and fuel wasted with lugging enormous and varied rigs. It would be cool to just have one machine that could literally make any sound in the best way possible. Why not? It reduces waste.
New technology kills old technology all the time. In the long run, yes - Kemper may reduce real amp sales. But that's the way things work, and in this case I think it is a good thing for many reasons.
DVD's killed the VCR. Netflix and the internet has killed the DVD. Advanced mobile devices are reducing PC sales.
That is an interesting point of view I've never considered before.
Video killed the Radio Star 
I've given my opinion on this on the Facebook Kemper group. Some parts:
"I love how he has tons of Joyo and Harley Benton stuff and talks about the Kemper being unethical. I can agree with his point of ordering an amp just to profile it. However, amp sales declining isn't the fault of the Kemper alone. If he really thinks that, he's really ignorant."
"I also find it funny how he talks about it not being the real deal while not having tested the Kemper in his own studio. I wonder if he can hear "it's not the real deal" on the tons of records and live shows that use(d) the Kemper."
These are parts of replies to other comments:
"The point is that there's no way whatsoever a Kemper is ethically wrong while the Joyo amp he has behind him wouldn't be. Or a Bugera wouldn't be. They are ethically wrong as well if the Kemper is. Where do you draw the line? Is having an original JTM45 wrong, because it's basically a Fender bassman?
Buying used declines sales as much, if not more, than a profiler does, I'd think."
"I think, if there is a line to be drawn, it probably should've been drawn long ago."
The entire discussion over there should people want to read it:
https://www.facebook.com/group…rmalink/1059243140763060/
Its a non issue. If retailers are finding they are losing money due to too many kempered-and-returned cases, theyll change their policy or charge a restocking fee. I feel its immoral to misrepresent yourself, but you could walk into guitar center today, tell the rep exactly what you intend to do, and they would likely say go for it. Theyre not going to call corporate and present the case and refuse to sell you the amp. Theyre hoping you like the amp enough to keep it, forget to return it in time, or blemish/damage it and cant return it.
Debating the morality gets into this gray "owed value" territory surrounding intellectual property. Then you have a huge waste of resources trying to stop what is inarguably progress. If IP creators want to survive they should evolve rather than fight disruptive technology.
If the Kemper is just as good as the amp, amp manufacturers should stop selling amps they create and start selling Kemper profiles of them. No one else can profile them since they alone own the real amps.
If retailers see their amp sales killed or have crushing returns due to the Kemper, they should build studio like rooms so that you go to the store and profile whatever amp you want for a fee. Or they can sell profiles...and KPA's. If GC actually offered something like that, id go there all the time and buy strings and picks and maybe some pedals from them. Instead ive given them maybe $10 in the past 5 years.
Obviously an amp costs way more than a profile pack, but that means way more people can afford profiles. Each amp could sell more revenue in profiles than the single amp is worth. But in the end way more people enjoy the amps particular tone for the same amount of money. In utilitarian terms, tech advancement is not only ethical but compulsively so.
Arguing about the owed value to the amp manufacturers or retailers is again turned on its head - the value they claim they own only exists if we refuse to allow technology to make the end result cheaper, more easily distributed, and less scarce. The value they are owed only exists because of the value they seek to legally or through moral argue deny to those who dont pay their overpriced fees.
Well, you'd have to sell a lot of profiles to get to the new price of a Diezel VH-4, for instance. Or a Two Rock. Or a Fuchs. And that's without the fee for the people making the profile; the time they need and the equipment they bought to make those profiles.
Well, people will inevitably talk and badmouth if a new technology is starting to become a real threat.
The kind of polarization seen in the vid can only happen because the profiler actually IS a REAL threat to the amp industry in the long run.
Atom(atom state ) based 3D printers/copy machines will be a theft threat in near future - also for the KPA . 
sorry but this vid and the arrogant guy is just boring
i don't like people showing their big cars
and the same with this video setup
thousands of dollars in amps
and the only intent is that he wants to show us what he owns
Some of his points I understand and even agree with, but he lost me at the mention of Joyo... Surely Joyo, Mooer etc that churn out these mass produced replicas of pedals like the OCD are having a much more detrimental effect on the pedal industry, and he clearly supports them. Profiling and returning an amp is wrong, but I can't see this is anywhere near as common as he'd have you believe. I'd always rather own the real amp than the profile but it's never going to be a reality for me. But the KPA has surprised me multiple times where I've been beyond impressed by profiles of amps I'd never normally have considered buying. But how is it different to buying a second hand amp? The manufacturer doesn't profit from any of the second hand sales of any of its gear, and an amp can change hands dozens of times in its lifetime, but they only get one sale.
He could have made actually an interesting point if he would speak about modellers and plugins in general.But if he has a go against the kemper and then uses all the cheap stuff you guys already mentioned and also plugins for his DAW this guy is at least a huge hypocrite.Is there any plugin for mixing or mastering which does not claim to copy hyper expensive studio-stuff from the 50s,60s and 70s;
Nikos, your statement reminds me of this fine video, Everything is a Remix: https://vimeo.com/14912890
He could have made actually an interesting point if he would speak about modellers and plugins in general.But if he has a go against the kemper and then uses all the cheap stuff you guys already mentioned and also plugins for his DAW this guy is at least a huge hypocrite.Is there any plugin for mixing or mastering which does not claim to copy hyper expensive studio-stuff from the 50s,60s and 70s;
Good point regarding the plugins
