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Eben Moglen: Time To Apply Asimov's First Law of Robotics To Smartphones
Sparrowvsrevolution writes "Free software lawyer and activist Eben Moglen plans to give a talk at the Hackers On Planet Earth conference in New York next month on the need to apply Isaac Asimov's laws of robotics to our personal devices like smartphones. Here's a preview: 'In [1960s] science fiction, visionaries perceived that in the middle of the first quarter of the 21st century, we'd be living contemporarily with robots. They were correct. We do. We carry them everywhere we go. They see everything, they're aware of our position, our relationship to other human beings and other robots, they mediate an information stream about us, which allows other people to predict and know our conduct and intentions and capabilities better than we can predict them ourselves. But we grew up imagining that these robots would have, incorporated in their design, a set of principles. We imagined that robots would be designed so that they could never hurt a human being. These robots have no such commitments. These robots hurt us every day. They work for other people. They're designed, built and managed to provide leverage and control to people other than their owners. Unless we retrofit the first law of robotics onto them immediately, we're cooked.'"
As in I, Robot. The robot was able to differentiate between the well being of the one against the well being of the many and caused harm to the one.
Similarly, our 'robots' harm the one (the owner) for the benefit of the many (the corporate overlords and the minions that thrive off the aggregated data supplied to them by our little robots).
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law - Aleister Crowley
Some apps spy on me -> I pirate everything! Sounds like someone is trying to justify being a cheap-ass. (With a dose of sociopathy since apparently you're excited about the prospect of devs losing their jobs so you don't have to pay $0.99!)