Having seen the previous owner of my house's cabinet building skills, and living with them, I'm all for licensing! -----Original Message----- From: Nathan Eisenberg [mailto:nathan@atlasnetworks.us] Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 1:55 PM To: nanog@nanog.org Subject: RE: [fyodor@insecure.org: C|Net Download.Com is now bundling Nmap with malware!]
It could be argued that Nmap is malware, and such software has already been called to be made illegal.
If I was Cnet, I would stop distributing his software altogether.
It could. But making such an argument calls the arguer's grasp of reality into question. Nmap is a tool, like any other. It has no more ethical value than a nail gun or a hammer. In the hands of an engineer, it is a valuable addition to a toolkit. In the hands of an attacker, it can become a weapon. If it could be argued that Nmap is malware, then it could be argued that hammers are weapons; therefore, we should call on Home Depot to stop carrying these deadly instruments with all due alacrity - or at least have governments step in and create licensing programs for hand tools. Nathan Eisenberg