[Fwd: IP: Fact Sheet on Export Controls on High Performance Computers]

[Joseph A Del corso]

Thank you for the laugh Kragen.  Again, I'd suggest
just reading my comments for what they are --  request 
for information, or commentary on a subject, 
from the community creating the next supercomputers, 
and supercomputer software.

I'm not talking about supression of thought here, I'm 
talking about at least having the guts to stand up
and regulate the software you put out -- BEFORE it's 
regulated from an outside source for you. 

again just a thought...

~~joe

On Thu, 11 Jan 2001, Kragen Sitaker wrote:

> Joseph A. del Stalin writes:
> > I know this may be way off base, but I figure I might as well
> > throw the idea out there. (Perhaps this already exsists and I'm 
> > simply un-aware of it) 
> > 
> > In light of what I just read, I'm curious if it wouldn't benefit
> > the open source community to form some kind of regulatory committee
> > to (and I shudder at the thought of what I'm about to say) control
> > the software being put out.  I realize that open source is a wonderful
> > idea, but who takes the blame for the mis-use of software?  
> > While I don't have any examples to prove the point, I think the idea
> > of "we just built the atom bomb, whatever people do with it is out 
> > of our hands" is kind of bogus.  A "hands off" approach to responsibility
> > for software produced is wrong.    
> > My personal opinion, specifically for the open source community, is 
> > to take responsibility for regulating itself.  I realize this goes 
> > against the "open source" concept... 
> 
> In light of what I just read, I'm curious if it wouldn't benefit the
> academic community to form some kind of regulatory committee to (and I
> shudder at the thought of what I'm about to say) control the research
> results being put out.  I realize that academic freedom is a wonderful
> idea, but who takes the blame for the mis-use of research results?
> 
> While I don't have any examples to prove the point, I think the idea of
> "we just discovered TNT, whatever people do with it is out of our
> hands" is kind of bogus.  A "hands off" approach to responsibility for
> ideas produced is wrong.
> 
> My personal opinion, specifically for the academic community, is to
> take responsibility for regulating itself.  I realize this goes against
> the "academic freedom" concept...
> 
> [Actually, we've seen this happen.  Think of Soviet Lysenkoism and
>  the gulags for those who criticized the state or wrote about the
>  gulags, the medieval Church's attacks on those who disagreed with it,
>  the multi-millennial stagnation of ancient Egyptian art, the
>  technological stagnation and eventual extinction of Neanderthal man,
>  the elimination of guns in Tokugawa Japan, leading eventually to
>  Japan's desperation and involvement in World War II --- the list goes
>  on .  . .]
> 
> -- 
> <kragen at pobox.com>       Kragen Sitaker     <http://www.pobox.com/~kragen/>
> Perilous to all of us are the devices of an art deeper than we possess
> ourselves.
>        -- Gandalf the White [J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Two Towers", Bk 3, Ch. XI]
> 
> 
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