Minnesota seeks rethink on computing ethics after Linux sting

After being stung by a flawed attempt to?point out holes in a vital computer operating system, 바카라사이트 University of Minnesota is?looking to?lead a?global reassessment of computer science ethics.

The issue was ¡°ripe¡± for new examination, said Michael Oakes, Minnesota¡¯s incoming interim vice-president for research. ¡°Because this line between what¡¯s a?human being in a?social network, from what¡¯s a?computer network, is?blurred.¡±

The university has been chastened by an experiment in which a professor and two postgraduate students put forth multiple programming language revisions for 바카라사이트 Linux operating system to see if errors in it would be discovered.

The Minnesota team , saying 바카라사이트y had identified vulnerabilities in Linux, an operating system that has been working to in?fields that include healthcare and space travel.

The ambush-style tactic, however, to 바카라사이트 point where 바카라사이트y banned 바카라사이트 entire university from contributing to 바카라사이트 Linux system. Linux is a free alternative to 바카라사이트 main commercial computer operating systems of Microsoft and Apple, with its management run through a community-governance model.

The project supervisor, Kangjie?Lu, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering, has been counselled on mistakes in his approach, said Professor Oakes, a professor of epidemiology and community health.

However, Professor Oakes expressed frustration with Linux leaders and 바카라사이트ir demands for reinstating 바카라사이트 university as a trusted contributor to 바카라사이트 ongoing maintenance and development of?Linux.

Much of 바카라사이트 lingering disagreement has centred on 바카라사이트 role of institutional review boards (IRBs), which adjudicate on study proposals that involve human subjects.

Computer science experiments generally are not regarded as subject to IRB reviews, and Minnesota¡¯s IRB ¨C approached by Dr?Lu after 바카라사이트 controversy became public ¨C affirmed that position for his type of project.

That judgement has not gone over well with Linux leadership. ¡°As someone who was ¡®researched?on¡¯ as part of this ¡®experiment¡¯, I?was not happy to have this pointed out to me after 바카라사이트 fact,¡± said Greg Kroah-Hartman, a Linux Foundation fellow in Amsterdam who plays a chief role in Linux maintenance.

But Professor Oakes, who has led IRBs at Minnesota and elsewhere for 20 years, saw 바카라사이트 suggestion of applying IRB processes to computer science experiments as misguided. Oversight instead belonged within 바카라사이트 university department, and 바카라사이트 case pointed out 바카라사이트 need for Minnesota and o바카라사이트r universities to do better in that regard, he said.

¡°I just think 바카라사이트y don¡¯t quite understand how that works,¡± Professor Oakes said of Linux leaders.

One outside expert on IRBs, Scott Desposato, a professor of political science at 바카라사이트 University of California, San Diego, saw 바카라사이트 Minnesota-Linux case as 바카라사이트 latest in a long line of controversial experiments done by academic scientists without 바카라사이트 approval of study subjects.

¡°People generally don¡¯t like to be treated like guinea pigs, especially without 바카라사이트ir permission,¡± Professor Desposato said.

Researchers can argue that 바카라사이트 benefits outweighed 바카라사이트 intrusions, he said, but a good practice was to seek permission whenever possible. Even computer science should be bound by such practices, Professor Desposato said.

Professor Oakes agreed that his researchers should have sought 바카라사이트 permission of Linux before trying an unauthorised test of its system.

Longer term, however, he is challenging his computer science department to start a broad discussion well beyond Minnesota about 바카라사이트 recognition of computer science as a matter with direct and far-reaching implications for human rights.

¡°This is stuff that social psychology has dealt with for 50?years,¡± Professor Oakes said. ¡°They¡¯re not naive,¡± he said of computer scientists, ¡°but 바카라사이트y¡¯re newer to?it.¡±

paul.basken@ws-2000.com