Xref: utzoo comp.sys.atari.st:14215 comp.sys.apple:10247 comp.sys.mac:27187 comp.sys.ibm.pc:25129
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cornell!biar!trebor
From: trebor@biar.UUCP (Robert J Woodhead)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st,comp.sys.apple,comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Right of reply, virus- public, private- a thin line
Message-ID: <144@biar.UUCP>
Date: 23 Feb 89 05:14:58 GMT
References: <415@odin.cs.hw.ac.uk> <14940@cup.portal.com>
Reply-To: trebor@biar.UUCP (Robert J Woodhead)
Followup-To: comp.sys.atari.st
Organization: Biar Games, Inc.
Lines: 31

In article <14940@cup.portal.com> Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com asks:
>Where do you draw the line...?   Are we better prepared if we see what most
>destructive programs look like..?  Or...  can we possibly avoid future
>problems by surpressing this information now..?

In the history of the world, no effort to suppress technological change
has ever had more than a temporary effect.  The real question is not
"should we talk about this?" but rather "how can we discuss this in a
reasonable manner?"

One way to do this is differentiate between public and private comments;
the former should be non-technical and instructive; "Here is what to do
to detect and repair virus X".  The latter can be technical and
speculative; "Here is a new way to infect Mac applications; what can we
do to fix this?".

No matter what, information is going to leak out to those who would
use it irresponsibly.  The trick is to keep the people who are involved in
reducing the impact of such irresponsible behavior better informed than the
vandals.

PS: Being new on the net, I'm not hooked in to any private or semiprivate
discussions in re viruses.  If there are any newsgroups I should be reading,
or any mailing lists I should be on, please let me know.  Thankyou

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| Robert J Woodhead      !uunet!cornell!biar!trebor     CompuServe 72447,37 |
| Biar Games, Inc., 10 Spruce Lane, Ithaca NY 14850  607-257-1708,3864(fax) |
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| Games written, Viruses killed   "I'm the head honcho of this here spread; |
| While U Wait.  Take a number.    I don't need no stinking disclaimers!!!" |
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