China...from that other forum

[monkeylizard]

In the "Where is IT going..." forum, a thread got started about the probability/possibility of China creating its own government controlled Internet.

langleymass wrote:

With the spread and growth of wireless and satellite technology, this probably won't work. There is also the "problem" of the hacker ethic. Basically, it says: "If there is a firewall, I will get through it. If there is a lock, I will pick it. If there is an answer, I will find it."

I think the world is generally a better place because of these kind of people. It's the spirit that makes men like Franklin fly kites during thunderstorms. People like this are the main reason why America is so rich today.

I thought it would be better to start this over here instead of derailing the other thread.
My question is this:

For those of you who think hacking is inherrently wrong, what if it's being used to override an oppressive and restrictive government? I know this has been discussed ad nauseum before, so let's try to keep it to the China topic in regards to hacking from inside the private Internet to gain access to sites and information outside on the public Internet.

Monkeylizard
Sometimes just a few hours of trial and error debugging can save minutes of reading manuals.

 

[dennisbbb]

The truth is, hacking is inherently neither good or bad. It is society's ethics of protectionism that deem it bad.

So to answer your question, one must look on each side to justify if hacking is good or bad. From the point of view of the Chinese government, hacking their system is bad because their investements are being compromised. From the point of view of the hackers (on behalf of the suppressed citizens), it is justified, because fighting for human rights is considered a nobel cause. So, it is all a matter of which side you are on to determine if hacking is good or bad.

Hope that is cleared.

 

[Trevoke]

Please read:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/C/cracker.html

http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/H/hacker.html

"That time in Seattle... was a nightmare. I came out of it dead broke, without a house, without anything except a girlfriend and a knowledge of UNIX."
"Well, that's something," Avi says. "Normally those two are mutually exclusive."
-- Neal Stephenson, "Cryptonomicon"