You know, I have to wonder about hackers. Most of us like to use general terms to describe them. We use general terms to think of hackers as objects rather than people.
Please note that I'm not approving of their methods or tactics. But I think it's fair to say that people often feel justified for their actions, even if the rest of us feel they're wrong. Spammers think they're protected by the 1st Amendment. The rest of us disagree.
To make it personal imagine the hackers/spammers. What motivates them? Is it just money? Are they putting money away to send their kids to college or to give them braces to straighten their teeth out? Are they saving in a retirement plan? Do they have health benefits?
It's hard for me to see spammers and hackers doing /having any of those things. It's far more convenient for me to think of them anonymously, as objects. Perhaps spammers/hackers are really a symptom of a much greater problem: lack of economic opportunity through legitimate means.
If it's true, as they say, that the rich get richer as the poor get poorer, then perhaps we need to look at the cause rather than the symptom.
Again, I say that I do not approve of their behavior. But at the same time, I do not condemn their behavior without examining my own behavior first.
Scott
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