PressEthic

Rather than accurately describing the individual as, say, a thief he was euphemistically called a hacker. The comparison in adjectives between someone who breaks into your house and steals your television versus someone who hacks into your computer and steals personal information is enlightening if we step back for a minute and consider the actions and intent of those being discussed. It is perfectly valid to draw comparisons between stealing and vandalizing from establishments and residences of brick and mortar and those whose presence is established in bytes and data on the internet.

It is very common, if not commonplace, for illegal activity such as this to be described by the media as simply hacking and for those engaging in this activity to be described as hackers rather than criminals. Often, if this debate is engaged, issues of free content, net neutrality and open access to the intenet are brought up as harbingers of democratic ideals translated to the world wide web. Often, however, the criminals who employ hacking techniques seek to make a profit from their efforts or damage the image and capabilities of another entity. A capitalistic democracy is established upon the principle of ownership, among other things, and the idea that the internet should be free of this principle as a democratic ideal is a contradiction. Here is the blurb published by NPR regarding the story on Maketplace:

A computer hacker claims to have unlocked the restrictions on Apple Computer's iPod and iTunes music products -- restrictions that prevent users from making copies of songs or sharing them with others. He will face Apple's lawyers, but if he wins, he plans to sell the code.

The millions of dollars that Apple placed in their software - enjoyed by millions of people - were invested as a venture, protected by law, in order to derive a profit. This criminal is attempting to piggyback on those efforts and those accomplishments to enjoy a profit of his own. The media, for their part, report on his activities as hacking and getting one over on a big corporation. It is almost analogous to the admiration for cat burglars or Bonnie and Clyde, eventually recognized as criminals, even though the romanticism lingers. For my part, I hope to report accurately the damage inflicted by online criminals - and refer to them as criminals - without the hazy euphemisms.