[ryandrake]

I've always thought we could benefit from having a Hippocratic Oath for software developers and taking it seriously. The tough part would be agreeing what kinds of projects are and are not ethical to work on.

I personally have quit a job in the past because (among sever other important reasons) I felt the projects' primary application (surveillance) was not something I wanted to be associated with. I have also chosen not to voluntarily participate in the patent process for any software I've designed (foregoing those slimy patent "bonuses" other engineers seem to like to gobble up). But not every software developer shares my particular set of ethics. How would you come up with a definitive list of what does and does not violate the "Software Hippocratic Oath"?

[gorbachev]

My Comp.Sci. degree actually included one. All graduating students swore an oath to not use our skills for evil (paraphrased). It's been while since that happened, so I don't remember the specifics any more, but I do remember thinking what a great thing to pass onto new software engineers.

[dethstar]

There's the ACM code of ethics https://www.acm.org/about-acm/acm-code-of-ethics-and-profess...

[brianwawok]

Yup, but how does this get enforced?

I think a doctor loses his medical license if he does something bad. A lawyer can low his license to practice law. At least in the US, you can't lose your programmer license... write a virus? Tis okay, in a month you can go work at a bank...

[Lawtonfogle]

Even the Hippocratic Oath is really hard to follow in corner cases? What counts as harm. What counts as an entity that can be harmed? Are all entities treated as equal in regards to the value of their harm?