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Comment by Miner49er | Hacker News Reader

Pretty unethical to claim this reward, IMO (if it actually happened and this isn't just a publicity stunt). The people who claimed it had to know it was going to be sold to government agencies (including potentially oppressive countries that may use this to target activists). If they didn't care about ethics, I wonder why they didn't just sell it themselves and cut out the middle man?

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Eh, I feel like it's middle-road. If you genuinely had a deep-seeded care about ethics in software, you would be RMS, not using any sort of non-free software. This is exactly the type of thing that justifies his stance.

On the other hand, if you are Randian, then taking the bounty is the ONLY ethical thing you can do, as Apple explicitly does not pay bounties of any amount.

While I'm troping, I'll take this chance to say that Down with Microsoft, Google is a hypocrite for "Do No Evil" and Cult of Apple are idiots...

Because it's government, and you need the right person who can approve such a purchase.

Also, who cares about the middle man? It's a MILLION dollars now. Today. Not maybe in 6 months, but now. Seems like a great way to earn a living as a geek, without getting too involved in the whole intelligence thing.

I care about the ethics. But I'm also honest enough to admit that $1 million is very tempting.

Presumably you don't want to call NSA/Apple, tell them what a great hack you did, and then ask them for One Million Dollars.

Why not? Is it illegal to hack your own iphone on a closed LAN? Do you have to be a startup to negotiate with the NSA? I reckon it would be worth a try.

I'm not pro-surveillance, so I wouldn't, but speaking hypothetically here.

Yes, it may be illegal. Tablets are always illegal to jailbreak. Phones are illegal to jailbreak if it allows unlocking of the phone, and the phone was sold before 2013. It IS legal to jailbreak your phone for the SOLE purpose of accessing copyright information that you have legal rights to.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/jailbreaking-now-...

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