Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sm.unisys.com!csun!srhqla!mml
From: mml@srhqla.UUCP (Michael Levin)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: CALL FOR VOTES:  DID HE DO US A SERVICE OR NOT?
Message-ID: <300@srhqla.UUCP>
Date: 22 Nov 88 18:54:42 GMT
References: <1330@stiatl.UUCP> <202@hsi86.hsi.UUCP> <6081@killer.DALLAS.TX.US> <31053@think.UUCP> <744@tank.uchicago.edu> <2675@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu>
Reply-To: mml@srhqla.UUCP (Michael Levin)
Distribution: na
Organization: Silent Radio, Los Angeles
Lines: 40

In article <2675@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu> julian@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu (Julian Cowley) writes:
>
>>He should be made to understand this. Jail will not teach this lesson. Having
>>him see some of the mess that he caused will.
>
>True.  I don't think he realized how grave a mistake he was making at
>the time he was comtemplating releasing his program upon the net.  Jail
>would have no affect in any way upon his understanding of this.  Sadly,
>the kind of punishment we have nowadays (jails) is the kind which does
>not intend to teach the person why he is being punished.  This applies
>to more than just Morris: there are more than one kinds of crime.

	I don't think that if Morris is jailed, it will be to teach HIM a
lesson-  it will be to scare off other people.  That probably would do *some*
good, as some people respond well to intimidation.  On the other hand, some
personalities simply take that as a challenge.  I don't think, however, that
the press' hyping this talk of 'computer virus' is very healthy.

	Man (especially males) is desirous of playing God (no, I'm not
turning this into a religious discussion, just a human one).  By creating
'life' in a machine (i.e., a computer that can 'catch' a 'virus' must be
alive, right) man is playing God.   This is a bunch of crap.  Today's
computers are just machines, and to attribute all of these theatrical
human characteristics to them is foolish.  A computer 'virus' is simply a
program which exploits certain bugs in the system.  THAT's ALL! ! !

	Why don't we simply think of this incident in it's correct light-
our systems are vulnerable to exploitation by others because of certain
inherent defects in them.  Much in the same way as my car leaves me
vulnerable to some yahoo smashing into me on the road.  Big deal.


					Mike Levin


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