No Honor Among Hackers

Recent sequence of events:

• The clever duck-haters at Apple create an iPhone and sell it (like hot cakes) with a clear agreement that AT&T is the carrier. Anyone who does not like that agreement is free to not give Apple and AT&T their money and instead buy any of hundreds of other phones from other carriers. Better still, they are free to create a better phone of their own.
• These hackers (clearly adherents to FCE4AAA) are clever enough to hack the iPhone so it can use carriers other than AT&T, but are not clever enough to create a better phone of their own. They charge people $99 to use the hack.
• A bunch of other hackers are clever enough to hack those hackers’ hack, but are not clever enough to create a better phone of their own. They tell people how to unlock the iPhone for free here.
• This hacker is clever enough to socially hack those hackers’ hackers’ hack, but is not clever enough to create a better phone of his own. He almost claims a donation of $41,560.

We have hackers hacking hackers hacking hackers. If these adolescents (whatever their calendar age, their behavior is adolescent) were outright thieves they would show each other some respect. Is there no honor among hackers?

I don’t think any of these hackers broke the law. I do know that they did not bring us any closer to having a better phone. Even if they did break laws most of them are probably too young to go anywhere but juvenile hall. At the very least, their parents should send them to bed without supper.