🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Dec14.183858.22132@mksol.dseg.ti.com> mccall@mksol.dseg.ti.com (fred j mccall 575-3539) writes:

>The point is that if someone is convicted of deliberate vehicular
>homicide, the obvious situation is 'driving a vehicle', whether they
>are a professional driver or not.

Are you saying, then, that Morris should be barred from driving a car,
since he doubtless used a car now and then to get to computer terminals
at Cornell?

>Whether Morris was part of
>"the computer industry" isn't relevant.

You were among those who defended the notion of keeping Morris from being
hired in the computer industry. And it was you who talked about Morris's
"position."

>  I have no problem with him
>working in the computer industry -- as long as what he does has
>nothing to do with doing anything on computers.

What about telephone lines and leased lines? I understand that the
Internet Worm propagated in this way too. Perhaps we should bar Morris
from using the phone as well?

You refer to "anything on computers" as if it were analytically obvious
that "anything on computers" is connected with the Worm. But all sorts of
uses of computers are pretty unconnected with writing and propagating a
worm or virus. Should we bar Morris from writing the next Wordperfect
or Excel or Procomm? Seems like a stupid thing to do, especially since
there's no inherent connection between software development per se and
the release and propagation of the Worm; lots of people do one without
doing the other.

Now, my mom, who's something of a computer illiterate, thinks all things
having to do with computers are more or less connected, even though she is
not so simplistic about cars or phones. The question is whether we adopt a
simplistic view of computers or not. I think it would be a disservice to
both the computer-using community and the legal community to do so.

>I would also hardly
>make this a lifetime ban, but I think a certain amount of "think about
>it" time might be both useful and constructive in this kind of case.

What is the source of your belief that Morris has had inadequate "think
about it" time? He has shown no signs of recidivism thus far.


--Mike



-- 
Mike Godwin,    |"Everything one invents is true."
mnemonic@eff.org| 
(617) 864-0665  |                           --Flaubert
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