Comment Kevin hype (Score 1) 156
I'd imagine that fear's the motivation behind how our government's treating Kevin.
Our media has created an image for hackers akin to that of terrorists. If I chucked a flaming bag of manure on my neighbor's porch, it would be seen as a practical joke, a bit of mischief, whatever. If a hacker does the equivalent of this online, he instantly becomes a terrorist to the outside world.
I guess part of this hype has to do with the nature of the internet and the access to information you achieve simply through your own dial-up. Since one can jump all over the place with a little browsing expertise, we equate a hacker's prowess over the internet with Big Brother.
So, of course, the prospect of releasing a hacker into society inspires fear in a lot of people. While the hacker's probably contemplating eating his first Big Mac in a while, we're imagining him getting out and immediately logging on and creeping across the internet with invisible hacker-spider-legs to mess with our lives.
I suspect I'll get myself into trouble for saying this, but hackers have really turned into our Communists and Anarchists of years past--Normal people with hobbies (or interests) our government frowns upon.
Anyway, that's my two cents.
-RG
Our media has created an image for hackers akin to that of terrorists. If I chucked a flaming bag of manure on my neighbor's porch, it would be seen as a practical joke, a bit of mischief, whatever. If a hacker does the equivalent of this online, he instantly becomes a terrorist to the outside world.
I guess part of this hype has to do with the nature of the internet and the access to information you achieve simply through your own dial-up. Since one can jump all over the place with a little browsing expertise, we equate a hacker's prowess over the internet with Big Brother.
So, of course, the prospect of releasing a hacker into society inspires fear in a lot of people. While the hacker's probably contemplating eating his first Big Mac in a while, we're imagining him getting out and immediately logging on and creeping across the internet with invisible hacker-spider-legs to mess with our lives.
I suspect I'll get myself into trouble for saying this, but hackers have really turned into our Communists and Anarchists of years past--Normal people with hobbies (or interests) our government frowns upon.
Anyway, that's my two cents.
-RG
