To beat the man, you got to be the man

This is a really tricky subject. It all depends on what you do with your knowlege. We'd all agree that it is illeagal to steal a car. But how about walking through a public parking lot and looking into a car. Your not harming anything, you just want to see what the interior is like.
So we could, from that little analogy, say it is ok to scan a system as long as you don't damage (alter) anything. But is this this so? Sooner or later this will have to be defined.
To be a good locksmith you have to know how to pick a lock.

This is exactly what I wanted to get going... see even when we do come to agree...
it seems that we only agree to disagree....

We all seem to think that something is "ethical", yet then there's that foggy patch where everyone has their say....

Like Dhej said:

Quote:

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If I took a crap on your lawn, in order to fertilize a dying patch, would you consider that ethical?

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btw... nice analogy.... :D

See, although some of us have good intentions, it doesn't matter, or does it?

THis sounds to me just like another Ethics question that people, mankind, has been facing for thousands of years. This answer cannot be answered buy just one person, and you will never get an agreed upon answer. This is just like asking, "Is abortion good or bad?" or "Should capitol punishment be allowed or not?" You are going to get people that will argue the side they agree with. Unless you take a vote, which is why the death penalty is allowed, then you really aren't going to get much furthur with this. It is just one of those, "Should marijuanna be legal?", type issues. My suggestion would be a poll. Let the people vote.

I agree that there are different types of hackers, therefore not all are bad.

Quote:

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By Ennis in “The Ultimate Newbie FAQ”
http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=218093

Black Hats
You may have heard this term tossed around this forum a couple of times, Black Hats are crackers out to gain something from their computer knowledge. Basically they are the crimanals you hear about from the media.

White Hats
You guessed it, the good guys. The find holes in systems and may patch them up or warn the sites administrator. These people are the moral conscience of the hacking world.

Grey Hats
Kinda myth-like, apparently the old crackers using their skills have root on many sites but do not deface the site or cause damage. They may install backdoors and sites. They do not talk to anyone or release their exploits to other hackers.

Input from MsMittens

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So basically it falls down to this...

Everything is not simply in black&white, it's more of a degredation of grays...

Which now leaves me to this... why should we help people if we'll get crap in return....
(ie: charges, lawsuits, etc)