Reverse-engineering and ethics

Several weeks ago, we talked in class about how Compaq reverse-engineered the IBM-PC's BIOS.  Supposedly, they did so in a way that did not violate copyright laws.  Was it ethical for them to sell their product after having done that?  They didn't have to put as much time or resources into their product, so they were able to produce it more cheaply and save money on development.  Granted, they did spend a bit of money to reverse-engineer the BIOS and to hire lawyers in order to ensure that they weren't violating copyright in any way.  However, it seems that they benefited unproportionally due to their reverse-engineering.  They didn't create anything new - they just replicated someone's idea.  I suppose ethics of a society are defined by the laws governing that society.  So while they may not have acted unethically, I think their course of action was wrong.  They should have used their creative energies to produce a new product that would contribute to the advance of the technological front.

Cuckoo's Egg Analysis

One of the major themes that stuck out to me in The Cuckoo's Egg's was how ignorant people were about security issues people in spite of the potential damage that could be done.  When Stoll would notify the system administrators of servers that had been hacked and explored, some of them didn't seem too alarmed, and some expressed no concern at all!  What most surprised me was the government's lack of interest in hackers, considering that the hacker targeted a number of military servers.  Even if they had complete confidence in the security of their systems, it seems like new trend of trying to break into computers owned by a branch of the government would warrant some sort of investigation.  Even if not for the purpose of protecting sensitive information, I think we should always be curious and open to learn and improve.  If there is a way for me to improve the security, performance, or user experience of my server, program, or product, I believe it is in my best interest to discover or invent and implement it.  That is how advances come in any field.  New good ideas do not come when we are satisfied with keeping the status quo.  In a society where some are content to stick with what they deem "good enough," development of newer and better technologies is held back.  In groups where all members are encouraged to think outside the box and innovate, great ideas and solutions will gain mainstream acceptance and serve as a base off of which newer creations can be forged!

How far is too far?

Article

The article attached above addresses Microsoft's plans to release Windows 10.  Critics tout the new operating system's increased simplicity; it will be a multi-device OS, able to adapt to its hosting hardware.  It will be more intuitive than its predecessors, and some confusing aspects of Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 will be eliminated.  As interesting as this is, it reminds me of a topic we discussed in class.  As computers become simpler, and easier to operate, they become more tightly integrated in society.  But are these technological advances proportionally beneficial to all of us?  They certainly benefit us by allowing us, for example, to plan our outfits and schedules according to the daily weather forecasts.  But what are the costs of integrating these computation machines in our lives?  Certainly we have reached the point where we cannot remove them from society, but we should carefully consider how much of our lives they take over.