G'morning Kurt,

 MM> Surely there can be no doubt in that area - the very name of
 MM> `virus' is self-declaratory in the ethical sense...

 KW> you'd be surprised... did you hear that consumer reports (yes, that
 KW> consumer reports) commissioned the creation of 5,500 new viruses in
 KW> order to perform tests on anti-virus products using viruses the vendors
 KW> hadn't seen before?

Difficult to experiment with antiviral remedies if you don't 
maintain active samples of small pox or ebola in a secure lab; and 
most reprehensible if done without doublelocks on everything.


 KW> perhaps not the ethics of virus writing but maybe
 KW> the ethics of researchers or vendors...

 MM> Altruism seems to be an important evolutionary trait - righting
 MM> wrongs is truistically ethical ...

 KW> so then what if a researcher or vendor contributes to the wrongs?

Even involuntarily must be unethical - by definition.

Any other view can only arise through selfdelusory sophistry...

 MM> Never underestimate the power of the fad and innovation...

 KW> well, let's face it... dialing into a bbs is a lot more complicated
 KW> than clicking the blue 'e'...

Just asking questions in Britannica or suchlikes takes newcomers 
out on the `net to be led into emailing or ftpping by popup 
wizards...   while handing out an freebie autolink to Fidonet  
still strikes terror into the novice heart ... .

Some fads are just like bottled water - no amount of education, 
explanation or erudition stops humans paying a thousand-fold for 
half-a-litre of tapwater.

Miles.


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