My position has always been, we can't keep people from having that kind of power. I've always felt that, by the time a person learns all that's required to obtain this power on their own, they have also learned some measure of responsibility in the process. "Hackers" these days, whether crackers, white-hats, or black-hats operate on a level so far above Joe Public (and even above your average IT professional) that maintaining the internet's security is out of our hands. At the moment, we're relying on a balance, with sysadmins, whitehats, and often times blackhats pitted against script kiddies, crackers, and others who destabilize the net for their own gain.
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My position has always been, we can't keep people from having that kind of power. I've always felt that, by the time a person learns all that's required to obtain this power on their own, they have also learned some measure of responsibility in the process. "Hackers" these days, whether crackers, white-hats, or black-hats operate on a level so far above Joe Public (and even above your average IT professional) that maintaining the internet's security is out of our hands. At the moment, we're relying on a balance, with sysadmins, whitehats, and often times blackhats pitted against script kiddies, crackers, and others who destabilize the net for their own gain.