June 17, 2001
Who's to blame?
Reading a CIO.com article on the destructive power of computer viruses made me wonder; at which point does the creation of a virus become illegal? Is it the act of creation itself or releasing it to the public that constitutes the illegal act? I ask because some virus writers appear to believe that they are no longer responsible for their creations once they are posted on a Web site for the public to take and use.
The virus writer in the article compares himself to a gun manufacturer; claiming that he is not responsible for what others do with his creations. But a virus is different than a gun in that it is invasive and often self-perpetuating. Imagine a gun that would shoot the target person, then continue on and shoot everyone they knew, and so on. Viruses are also hidden weapons, like letter bombs. And those are certainly the responsibility of their creators.