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From: gillies@p.cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: CALL FOR VOTES:  DID HE DO US A SER
Message-ID: <79700016@p.cs.uiuc.edu>
Date: 15 Nov 88 06:28:00 GMT
References: <1330@stiatl.UUCP>
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Nf-ID: #R:stiatl.UUCP:1330:p.cs.uiuc.edu:79700016:000:977
Nf-From: p.cs.uiuc.edu!gillies    Nov 15 00:28:00 1988


I believe we should string Robert Morris up by his thumbnails.

Why?  Consider this.  Ten years from now, a graduate student in
biology decides to make a *REAL* virus.  He says, "geez, why hasn't
the NIH innoculated the general population against this virus?
Obviously, any strain of X, Y, or Z could mutate into this virus at
any time, causing lots of harm!"  So secretly, he builds the virus.
He intends to show off a weakend form of the virus, to get people to
do something.  But before he finishes it, he makes a serious mistake,
and the virus escapes in mutant form.  Millions of deaths follow.

What would you do to this person?  How can you (ethically)
differentiate between this graduate student and Robert Morris?


We are so lucky that digital systems don't die from software bugs
(usually).


Don Gillies, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Illinois
1304 W. Springfield, Urbana, Ill 61801      
ARPA: gillies@cs.uiuc.edu   UUCP: {uunet,harvard}!uiucdcs!gillies