Maybe this is a bit different but sort of the same. Back in my college days an assignment in my 'Control and Security' class caused a little bit of a comotion. The assignment was to write a program to encrypt and decrypt messages based on the Tableau Vigenere. There was no requirement on language or anything else. The professor wasn't exactly on the ball so I asked if we could use any type of libraries that may be available. The answer was yes.
Anyway to make a long story short I went home spent a few hours writing a nice library to encrypt and decrypt messages based on the Tableau Vigenere. I made a little flyer and posted on the classroom board the next morning. I would not have sold it to anyone but I wanted to see the reaction.
So to make a long story short the prof. got a little upset, accused of cheating. My standing in the school, and the fact that I never actually sold it to anyone, prevented me from harm but the next semester students had a few more stipulations on the project.
While this would not have been ethical I don't think it would have been cheating either. If code is given the proper credit then why would it be cheating?
Being a close friend with a long time journalist I think Mr. Penenburg is doing the proper thing,.. mostly. I don't think he should reveal his sources or go down any path that may eventually lead in him revealing his sources. However, I think he should at least confirm that his story was an accurate account, if in fact it was. Isn't journalism supposed to be about telling the truth? What would the problem be if he just confirmed the accuracy in his story? If that would indeed result in the opening for further questions couldn't he refuse to answer those questions? Would the "underworld of computer hackers" feel betrayed if he just confirmed that he was telling an accurate account in his article? I also have to say it take guts to quit your job based on beliefs like these. Especially know how long it takes some journalist to get work. I think Mr. Penenburg is doing a very noble thing.
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Maybe this is a bit different but sort of the same. Back in my college days an assignment in my 'Control and Security' class caused a little bit of a comotion. The assignment was to write a program to encrypt and decrypt messages based on the Tableau Vigenere. There was no requirement on language or anything else. The professor wasn't exactly on the ball so I asked if we could use any type of libraries that may be available. The answer was yes. Anyway to make a long story short I went home spent a few hours writing a nice library to encrypt and decrypt messages based on the Tableau Vigenere. I made a little flyer and posted on the classroom board the next morning. I would not have sold it to anyone but I wanted to see the reaction. So to make a long story short the prof. got a little upset, accused of cheating. My standing in the school, and the fact that I never actually sold it to anyone, prevented me from harm but the next semester students had a few more stipulations on the project. While this would not have been ethical I don't think it would have been cheating either. If code is given the proper credit then why would it be cheating?
If this happens how long would it be before we start seeing rot13 type filenames? Instead of Metallica you would get Zrgnyyvpn.
Being a close friend with a long time journalist I think Mr. Penenburg is doing the proper thing,.. mostly. I don't think he should reveal his sources or go down any path that may eventually lead in him revealing his sources. However, I think he should at least confirm that his story was an accurate account, if in fact it was. Isn't journalism supposed to be about telling the truth? What would the problem be if he just confirmed the accuracy in his story? If that would indeed result in the opening for further questions couldn't he refuse to answer those questions? Would the "underworld of computer hackers" feel betrayed if he just confirmed that he was telling an accurate account in his article? I also have to say it take guts to quit your job based on beliefs like these. Especially know how long it takes some journalist to get work. I think Mr. Penenburg is doing a very noble thing.