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ethical dilema | by plblark | 2005-01-27 12:59:39 |
| Means and ends.... |
by Tars_Tarkas |
2006-11-19 12:55:59 |
I know some people will say the means justify the ends and some will say the exact opposite. Me, I think in every action all the results and the (perceived) gains have to be taken into account when evaluating that action...
In this context this here is pretty well written:
Ken Thompson's (yes, the Ken Thompson), "Reflections on Trusting Trust": clicky.
Esp. this part of it:"I have watched kids testifying before Congress. It is clear that they are completely unaware of the seriousness of their acts. There is obviously a cultural gap. The act of breaking into a computer system has to have the same social stigma as breaking into a neighbor's house. It should not matter that the neighbor's door is unlocked."
However this (the Mentor's Manifest) is also relevant. It also points to said cultural gap. Actually that's what it is about mostly.
Learning the skillz of a hacker (in the finding ways to make the system do what it doesn't want to do sense) is pretty cool. So is learning how to pick locks. Same principle really.
Weird, but in a way, it's like some people's obsession with guns. I could imagine that knowing how to handle a gun, how it works and stuff is a rewarding thing to know. Still, having skill with guns and skill with computers... both can be used for commiting crimes and for doing good things (guns are just way more extreme on the criminal end).
It's just not so very nice to use either your computer, manual lock picking or gun skillz on your neighbours computer, front door or person... Knowing how to work computers, for example, can get you a job though, which is a good thing...
Making the owner of a security vulnerability aware of it is a good thing too. It's just difficult to do that with an anonymous open WAP, except by leaving a note on the computer. So in that case I'd say that since the intent was good and there's no damage done (except using up a couple of bytes on the harddisk), it's justifiable. Making the owner aware of such a vulnerability by clearing out their bank account, otoh, isn't.
-><-
Cardinal Tars Tarkas, KSC. |
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