Actually, this is similar in function to the linux worm that went around fixing the lion backdoor, which while still more technically than socially oriented certainly helped a few lost computers get back in the control of the owners. At 12:12 PM 06/11/2001 +0200, you wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
Truth is stranger the science fiction.
This story covers a new kind of virus that seems to perform functions that no virus has ever before performed.
Aside from the technical ingenuity it requires and the unresolved legal issues that it creates, it demonstrates a rare conceptual ingenuity for the potential social dimensions of IT.
Ken Friedman
Jeremy Hunsinger http://www.cddc.vt.edu Instructor of Political Science Center for Digital Discourse and Culture Webmaster/Manager CDDC 526 Major Williams Hall 0130 http://www.cddc.vt.edu/jeremy --my homepage Virginia Tech (yes i partially updated it) Blacksburg, VA 24061 (540)-231-7614 icq 5535471