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by meowface 4163 days ago
The problem is that a skilled programmer in North Korea may be forced into a government role where they will likely perform unethical work.

In the US, the person must voluntarily choose to pursue such a role. (Though I would not consider Stuxnet unethical.)
2 comments
Demiurge 4163 days ago
Right, in US, the government will never force anyone to perform unethical work. That's an interesting assumption.

What if a skilled programmer in North Korea volunteers to perform unethical work? What if a skilled programmer in US volunteers to perform unethical work?

What if "ethics" simply depends on your country of origin?

To be honest, what you and the grandparent post should be saying is that North Korea is the enemy, and to help the enemy in any way is "bad". Why pretend that you're helping the people of North Korea by not helping the people of North Korea so they can't help their country?

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meowface 4162 days ago
NK is not an enemy in the same way Iran might be. NK is a Stalinist regime in 2015.

>Right, in US, the government will never force anyone to perform unethical work. That's an interesting assumption.

I think it's a reasonable assumption. You can't be forced to join the military (unless there's a draft) or an intelligence agency, and if you work for one, you can't be forced to do something you don't want to do; you can just quit. They can threaten you with prosecution if you leak anything, but they can't make you do something you don't want to.

In NK you can both be forced to work for an organization and you can be forced to do specific tasks you may not want to do, at risk of torture or death.

>What if "ethics" simply depends on your country of origin?

That is true of course. And no doubt there are going to be NK programmers who are ethical and do nothing but help their populace. Obviously many US programmers are performing unethical tasks daily as well. But again, in the US these will almost always be voluntary actions.

I think educating NK citizens is a perfectly good idea, just there are certain topics that perhaps they should not be taught, due to their oppressive and Machiavellian regime.

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anonbanker 4162 days ago
How could stuxnet _not_ be unethical?
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meowface 4162 days ago
It's a sabotage weapon. Any weapon can be used ethically or unethically.
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