Xref: utzoo comp.sys.amiga:12576 alt.flame:1187
Path: utzoo!hoptoad!amdahl!ames!husc6!bloom-beacon!athena.mit.edu!langz
From: langz@athena.mit.edu (Lang Zerner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,alt.flame
Subject: Re: Virus spread due to piracy?  Huh?
Summary: WARNING: FLAME
Message-ID: <2163@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>
Date: 7 Jan 88 02:02:35 GMT
References: <2264@crash.cts.com> <2033@gryphon.CTS.COM> <1860@s.cc.purdue.edu> <6024@oberon.USC.EDU>
Sender: daemon@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU
Reply-To: langz@athena.mit.edu (Lang Zerner)
Followup-To: alt.flame
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lines: 78

In article <6024@oberon.USC.EDU> papa@pollux.usc.edu (Marco Papa) writes:
>Again, until Bill Koester' new Vcheck 2.0 comes out, try to be careful.
>
>-- Marco

I appreciate your concern Marco, but the rest of your posting pissed me off.  I
don't know who started the idea that infected disks are pirated, but the
fallacy of your argument is revealed when you try to rest it on:

>Pirated disks (disks copied with Marauder, Mirror or any
>other bit copier) are by default bootable.

That is so.  All you should conclude from this is that *some* bootable disks
may be pirated.  But you go on to contend the fallacious conclusion that
if a pirated disks are bootable, bootable disks are pirated ("If all A's are
B's, then all B's must be A's" -- Wrong-O, sir).

I hope the following rewrite of your recent posting will remind you of the
morality and logic of medieval witch hunters.

READERS PLEASE NOTE.  THE FOLLOWING IS A MODIFIED TEXT.  MY MODIFICATIONS
APPEAR IN ANGLE BRACKETS <>.  THE ORIGINAL POSTING WAS CONCERNED WITH A
SOFTWARE VIRUS WHICH ONLY AFFECTS BOOTABLE DISKS AND SOFTWARE PIRATES.  THE
AUTHORS DID NOT IN FACT DISCUSS THE TOPIC PRESENTED BELOW.  THE TEXT HAS BEEN
MODIFIED TO INCREASE THE VISIBILITY OF LOGICAL FALLACIES IN MARCO PAPA'S
ARGUMENT.  THE ORIGINAL TEXT APPEARS IN COMP.SYS.AMIGA article
<6024@oberon.UCS.EDU>.  FOLLOWUPS TO ALT.FLAME.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE FOLLOWING IS A MODIFICATION OF A POSTING BY MARCO PAPA.  THOUGH CERTAIN
TERMS HAVE BEEN REPLACED WITH LIKE-CATEGORY TERMS, THE LOGICAL STRUCTURE OF
MARCO'S POSTING IS IDENTICAL TO THE FOLLOWING:
In article <1860@s.cc.purdue.edu> ain@s.cc.purdue.edu.UUCP (Patrick White) writes:
>
>   But, the virus is *not* spread due to <homosexuality> -- it is spread via
>an infected <person>.  Is is in no way related to <homosexual activity>
>(except for the coincidental fact that a <homosexual> *may* be infected).

Not coincidental.  <Homosexuals> ... are by default <sexually active>.  Which
means, they are the ones more prone to get infected and spread the infection.
As I said before, non-<sexually active people> CANNOT spread the ... virus or
its current variations.  This does not mean that non-<sexually active people>
are safe from FUTURE viruses.

>   It may have been first spread via a <homosexual> , but that is
>irrelevant now.
>
>   So, please don't make the equation: <homosexuality> == virus.

From looking at the various <editorials> on <CNN>, <USA Today> and various
<supermarket tabloids>, the general consensus seems to be:

"<engage in homosexual acts> = take the chance to get infected"

If you got infected, and did NOT get it from a <homosexual>, you can thank
the <homosexuals> that spread it in the first place.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
END EDITED POSTING.  THE ABOVE IS A *MODIFIED* VERSION OF MARCO PAPA'S ARTICLE
ON COMP.SYS.AMIGA, <6024@oberon.UCS.EDU>.  MODIFICATIONS WERE MADE TO MAKE
MARCO'S FALLACIES MORE APPARENT, LEAVING THE *STRUCTURE* OF THE POSTING THE
SAME; THE *CONTENT* OF MARCO'S ARGUMENT WAS CONCERNED WITH COMPUTER-RELATED
TOPICS.  SEE DISCLAIMERS ABOVE.

Now, I don't support software pirates' "right" to illegaly copy software, but
seeing the scare-tactic "logic" that some use to equate certain infectious
diseases to homosexuality spread to infect even more conversations just gets me
pissed.  Panic and flimsy logic are more dangerous to free speech as software
viruses are to software development. 

See you in alt.flame. ;-)




Be seeing you...
--Lang Zerner      langz@athena.mit.edu    ihnp4!mit-eddie!athena.mit.edu!langz
"No one is exempt from talking nonsense; the only misfortune is to do it
 solemnly"   --Michel de Montaigne