Outsourcing out of the box?

As I spent a frustrating 15 minutes speaking to a newly established call centre in the Asian subcontinent and not achieving anything as I was put on hold for the 4th time, I was reading this BBC article posted on my son’s facebook page – seems like outsourcing can have its individual benefits, although possibly not in the long term.

US employee ‘outsourced job to China’

Security audit finds dev OUTSOURCED his JOB to China to goof off at work

It seems that the idea of outsourcing your own job and taking the difference between what you are paid, and what you pay for the task, is perhaps more common than realised:

Outsourcing your own job much more common than first thought

One comment on another website had a suggestion:

Funny thing is that people were doing this for ages, nothing new here. The guy is actually pretty low tech. Experienced guy would totally proxy the connection through his local box at home or a box on amazon.

I wonder whether this is fundamentally different than any other form of subcontracting – except where there are issues of confidentiality, of course? Is it simply thinking outside the box or is it morally wrong? It  provides employment for others, but is dishonest if done without the permission of your employer. What are your views?