These "hackers" as they call themselves, have a different view of the Internet. They believe that information should be free. Copying information doesn't cost the original owner anything because he still has his information. Only distributing information poses ethical problems because the only way that the original owner can lose anything is if he needed the information to be kept secret and you distribute it. As long as you take proper care of the information, you aren't hurting anyone.
That makes sense to me.
They mostly collect information to educate themselves. That is a perfectly legitimate goal. As I am trying to learn all about the Internet, too, I understand the need to gather as much knowledge as possible as quickly and as easily as possible.