Part 98 (2/2)
”As you should resent it” Dave juher purpose here You resent your house being used by an uninvited guest in your absence Right?” Scott a- greed ”Well, let's say that you are going to Hawaii for a couple of weeks, and so to be robbed while you're gone So instead of bothering you, he house sits Your house doesn't get robbed, you return, find nothing aet robbed instead?”
”Well, I certainly don't want to get robbed, butI knohat it is I' violated I don't know if I have a quick answer” Scott looked and sounded perplexed
”Goot! You should not have a quick answer, for that answer is the core, the essence of the ultiestured to their table of seven ”That question is security versus freedo tendency to share everything Your ideas, your thoughts, your successes and failures, the gerration of a brainstorible
They therefore desire coe, they do not wish any restrictions on their freedom to interact
However, the Governments of the world want to isolate and re- strict access to infore their concern That is the other side, security with minimal freedoh they do it very poorly and give it a lot, how do you say, a lot of lip service?”
Everyone agreed that describing a bank's security as lip service was entirely too coo uncontested
”Then again, business hasn'tinforroups with different needs and desires which vary the ratio of freedom to security In reality, of course, there will be hundreds of opinions,” Solon added for accuracy's sake
”Mathe by 0 results in infinite freedom Any security at all and some freedom is curtailed So, therein the problee old question that every generation eneration will do the same for information and freedom They are inseparable”
Scott soaked in the words and wanted to think about them later, at his leisure The erudite positions taken by hackers was astonishi+ng cooals and convictions were radical to say the least, but the arguments were persuasive
”Let roup ”What happens when computers are secure? What will you do then?”
”They won't get secure,” GWhiz said ”As soon as they come up with a defense, ill find a way around it”
”Won't that cycle ever end?”
”Technology is in the hands of the people,” commented Che2
”This is the first time in history when the power is not concen- trated with a select few The ancients kept the secrets of writing with their religious leaders; traveling by shi+p in the open sea was a hard learned and noble skill Today, weapons of mass destruction are controlled by a few mad men who are no better than you or I But now, computers, access to information, that poill never be taken away Never!”
”It doesn'tthe future in his own mind ”I doubt that computers will ever be secure, but instead, the barrier, the wall, the tiy it takes to crack into them will become prohibitive for all but the y to explore”
”Like what?” Asked Scott
”Satellites are pretty interesting They are a natural extension of the co them will be lots easier in a couple of years” DRDR saw understanding any new technology as apersonal challenge
”How do you crack a satellite? What's there to crack?”
”How about bea someone else's satellite?” DRDR speculated ”It's been done before, and as the equipmade over the public airwaves The BBC and NBC will have their hands full In the near future, I see virtual realities as an ideal ree,” said Solon ”And with virtual realities, the ethical issues are even more profound than with the Global Network”
Scott held up his hands ”I knohat _I_ think it is, but before you go on, I need to kno you define a virtual reali- ty” The hackers looked at each until Dave took the ball
”A virtual reality is fooling theis real that isn't real” Scott's face was blank
”Ever been to Disneyland?” Dave asked Scott nodded ”And you've ridden Star Tours?” Scott nodded again ”Well, that's a si that you are in a space shi+p careening through an asteroid belt, but in reality, you are suspended on a few guy wires The projected iine a visual field, currently it's done with goggles, that creates real life pictures, in real tiht bulb went off ”That's like the Holo-Deck on Star Trek!”
”That is the ultimate in virtual reality, yes But before we can achieve that, i in a virtual cockpit of a virtual car, and seeing exactly what you would see from a race car at the Indy 500 The crowds, the noises, and just as i As you drive, you shi+ft and the car reacts, you feel the car react You actually follow the track in the path that you steer The co, even smell, creates a total illusion In short, there is no way to distinguish between reality and delu- sion”