Ethics In The Computer Age (1984)

It isn't every little whim. It looks like it's in slow motion. Mhm. Let's not go on the drill loop. So, you want the drill bit to move faster or Uzi? I don't know. Maybe we should add some more landmines. Nine months of working on this computer game and you want more landmines? Give me the listing on the attachments, Ken. This is it. Final assembly. Okay, get ready. Hey, you've entered the oil zone. Watch out. Whoa, this is tough. You think you're turning right, but you're really turning left. I thought it was down, I wanted to go up. Uh-uh, look out for the Uzi. Where'd he come from? Come on, move. Look, I am. WHICH WAY? MOVE. BAD MOVE. Let's lose the siren. No, keep it going. It's wonderful. I think we've got a winner. I hate losing. I do I hate losing. Even if we did invent the game. You know, this is not just good, Aaron. It's great. Oil's well. Your fortune is only minutes away. Very clever. Then you're interested in my game, Mr. Hendricks? I'm more than interested, Aaron. I'd like to license it. Fantastic. I'll have our play testers look at it as soon as possible. Now, I want you to understand that all our computer games have excellent copy protection. In addition, we'll be signing a mutual non-disclosure agreement. What's that? It's a promise to each other that we won't disclose the contents of Oil's Well to anyone at any time. Agreed? That'd be stupid. Absolutely. To success. You know, $500 up front doesn't exactly make us rich. Well, they do have their manufacturing and distributing costs. Look at it this way, Aaron. Oil's Well has terrific sales potential. The game sells. You think we'd be able to pay for our college education? You bet. This is outrageous. You like it? I got to hand it to you. Nine months locked in the garage may have been well worth it. Yeah, well, uh sacrifices have to be made. Look out. Come and get me, Uzi monster. This is the best game I've played in years. I got to hand it to you guys. I can't believe my own two friends invented it. I mean, you even turned down a date with Marilyn Powers for this. What an occasion. You were thinking of dating Marilyn Powers? Come on. Got to get back. That was close. Oh, here he comes again. I got to get a copy of this game. Sure. When the game comes out, we'll give you one. What? No way. I'm already addicted. Look, it's impossible. You just have to wait. And we just signed an agreement that says What? What? What? Make me suffer? I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'll make a deal with you. One copy of Run Around for one copy of Oil's Well. Run Around? How'd you get a copy of that? Trade secret. I read about that game. It's not doing the market until December. And you can beat the Christmas rush. It's top of the line computer programming. We could learn from it. Why not? Besides, there's only one copy. I don't like it. Something's wrong. Hendricks said sales might be slow at first. But Oil's Well's been on the shelves for over two months. Maybe it's not as good as we thought. Oh, listen to this. Hot new games. Mirror Image, Run Around, and Oil's Well. Only $7. What? Wait a minute, let's see. You kids called a couple hours ago? That's us. Got it. Right over there. The latest and the greatest, Oil's Well. Only seven bucks. You know, the pun on that was pretty tough. Must have had a hard time cracking it, huh? Good metaphor. I mean, I can if it's the only way. With this one, just slide right in place through the underground. Just like that? Piece of cake. Hey, you going to pay or pass? We kind of like to see it first. No problem. Why didn't you say so? That's our game, all right. You mean was our game. You're not the programmers. Oh, I see. Think you're real smart, huh? Hey, Carl. Come talk to these kids with me. I think it's lesson time. Whoa, no, wait a minute. And it look, when we said it was our game, we meant it was our game. You know, the one we like to play. Yeah, that's that's what we meant. The state, kids. I don't appreciate being taken advantage of. Pirates. A pirate. We don't have his name, but we have his phone number and his address. We thought you should know. Thanks very much. He's hardly the only one. Well, what do you mean? The game's not selling. Hardly a tenth of what we projected. We're getting a lot of returns from our distributors. Well, what's going to happen now? Not much, I'm afraid. I have to devote my time from now on to a couple of new games. How many copies did you pass out to your friends? We didn't. I mean, we only You know, the non-disclosure agreement that we signed wasn't just to protect me. It was to protect you, too. Look at what I've got. Hot off the presses. Wait till you guys try this new game. I always like my friends to get first dibs on the games. You know, that's why I've got so many friends. Something wrong here? I get most of my games from my modem. It's a lot cheaper than paying $40 when it comes out. The software companies, they're just trying to rip you off. Many people have seen the movie WarGames. In that movie, the young man was telling his girlfriend that he couldn't go to jail unless he was over the age of 18. That's not true. People who do things in the privacy of their own home, they wouldn't dream of doing elsewhere. And likewise, with a computer hobbyist, or let's say a hacker is turned outlaw, the typical profile of that kind of person is a person who has trouble relating to mainstream society, more or less a social coward. Somebody who's only means outlet for communication is via this inanimate object, a keyboard. The first thing you learn is how to make long-distance calls for free, and next thing you know, you're dialing all over the United States, and it's a real feeling of power. Most people wouldn't think about stealing things that are of a material nature, like hardware and parts. But when it comes to software, and it's an intellectual property, and they're accessing it from far away where they're not in contact with people who own it, then then they seem to think nothing of it, and that's a double standard that probably shouldn't exist. It's been estimated that anywhere from 2 to 15 billion dollars a year are being lost to software piracy and computer crime in general in the United States today. All the kids that, you know, do this piracy, they don't realize that programmers and game designers put a lot of effort into it, and it hurt me the first time that I saw my game being pirated. Yeah, ever since we saw the movie WarGames, me and my friends have tried to break into almost any system we could. It's like I don't know, it's like a high or something. Alex, thanks. You're a lifesaver. What'd you do? Clean out the library? It's for paper in matters class. It's due tomorrow morning, first period. An extensive biography of Oliver Wendell Holmes. He would give an assignment like that tonight. I would play Roosevelt. He didn't. I've just been putting it off. You're going to miss the best game of the year. I'm sorry, Alex. The grudge match of the century? I really don't have a choice. I'll probably be up half the night as it is. Not if I have anything to do with it. What's that supposed to mean? Well, we can finish your paper before the game. Oh, yeah, you perform miracles now? Better. I have a personal computer now. Look, computers are really fast. We'll access the electronic encyclopedia in Zappo. One extensive biography on what's-his-name before the kickoff. We only have 5 hours. Trust me. Well, let's get going then. We don't want to miss the game. Hey, wait up. It's just a little messy. I hope you realize only a very select few have ever witnessed what you are about to see. Whatever you say. Ready? Ready, maestro. Let's begin. What's that? The access code. Wait. Don't move. It's going backwards. Yeah, I know. It's the darkroom clock. But first, presto, it's a 5-hour clock. When it hits zero, it'll be game time. A whole new world is at my fingertips. Yeah. Password. Macropedia. I've heard these services can be kind of expensive. I'd be happy to pay for the computer time. Hey, who's to pay? Well, they charge, don't they? Not if you're smart enough to get around it. What do you mean? Well, we have this network, sort of an underground. We call it the Pirates of Perchance. We trade information, access codes, telephone numbers, passwords. No one in the cyclo service will ever know. That doesn't sound exactly legal. Look, it's a game of cleverness. We're not stealing. We don't alter records or anything like that. We just access. Maybe leave a gremlin or two for fun. But But it's But it's just a game. Gremlin? Yeah, wait. You'll see. Holmes. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Born 1841, died 1935. Sometimes known as the Great Dissenter. Look at all this information. He earned his nickname because of his controversial dissenting opinions. Oh, you don't have to take notes. I can print it out for you. It's a lot faster. 2 hours, Alex. Looks like we're going to make it. Yeah. Whoa. Look at this. I've logged into a medical data bank. How'd you get into that? I got the access code from my underground. Been working on the password for about a week. But I didn't know it would be a hospital. That's private information. Come on, Sandy. I'm not going to hurt anybody. It's there. It's in the system. It's not like I'm breaking into an office and taking files. Look, this is the accounting stuff. Operating costs. How many disposable syringes were used last month? Boring. This guy's an accountant could use a thrill. IV. Feed me. Solution. Chocolate. Alex, I don't want to be a part of this. It's a game, that's all. I haven't changed anything. It just comes up at random. It'll be a laugh for the guys in accounting. It's no big deal. But isn't that the same data bank as other medical information? Beats me. I doubt it, though. I think Justice Holmes would be dissenting by now. The computer was uh very helpful, Alex. Thanks. Really. I think these books will get me through the night. Bye. Sandy, wait. What's wrong? Hey, what about the game? Hello, this is Dr. Davis at California