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So I'm thinking of posting this in ED, but I want some other people's opinions before I create the potential for making a fool out of myself, i.e., figuratively opening my mouth. Hurrah, idiom. Anyway...

Inconsequential edit: I just thought I'd share this: "You haven't seen true geekdom until you've watched Snape and Sephiroth in a duel to the death in front of dozens of bewildered mall patrons." -Questionable Content
That is all.

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Is it necessarily wrong to deal in the business of information? Even in the business of misinformation, properly played? Obviously, government agencies are constantly doing this; relaying knowledge, relaying knowledge of knowledge, questioning both, trading secrets, prying into personal lives. They have to that they might protect their own best interests and that of their constituents, citizens, charges, etc. Does this make every CIA operative a bad person? No; probably not. It is generally considered, I think, that to sin or do wrong for the greater good is a necessary, acceptable evil, if properly considered.

On a personal level, is it okay to make a game, an art, a business out of collecting information? Is it wrong to spy, to discover secrets, and then to play games with them? Not with the people themselves; at least, not unjustly. Isn't it the job of him with the information to protect it? If you can disclose it, you have won the game. It is then yours to sell and trade, always assuming morals: Will this knowledge lead directly to the destruction of a person, to any other sin? Are you intentionally causing suffering?
And does spying for information count as theft; is information a posession; does it become one when it becomes involved in economy and finance, or is it always simple knowledge? Knowledge is never free, obviously; there is a time cost and sometimes monetary cost. But once earned, it doesn't really have a monetary value; I believe that, similar to the case of land, it may then be assigned a value by the owner, regardless of the means which got it.

Can one sue for knowledge theft, or only for copyright violation? The American justice system, as far as I know, only allows lawsuits against spying with regards to privacy protection and trespassing, and there are few ways to prove trespassing simply by knowledge of information, especially given the Fifth Amendment.

And then there is the topic of misinformation. It's wrong to lie. It's wrong to cheat and steal. But is it wrong to strategically craft words so that while one never lies, one doesn't exactly convey the truth, but in fact nothing? I have operated, within my own home, at school, in any sort of society which might require the tactical use of non-truth and evasion, on so-called 'lies by omission.' However, these 'lies' cannot possibly be what they are named; otherwise, anything I failed to tell anyone would be considered a lie. Therefore, assuming information trade is a viable business, misinformation must be a significant part of it. I believe, as well, that misinformation includes the allowance to believe without correcting a mistake, though this is slightly warned against in the Bible ("If you speak the Word to a man and he does not listen, his blood is on his head; if you speak not the Word to a man and he fails to hear, his blood is on your head." wink I need to find the verse for that, but it's there somewhere. This does not necessarily apply to all information, but given the nature of most Biblical lessons, I imagine it does to some degree. Even so, I believe that except in the case of faith, this applies primarily to those who might deny reasonable information to one questing for it; if information is requested and not given except in the case of unreasonable information (personal information of oneself or others, read: secrets) being requested, the verse applies. Otherwise, it does not.

My ideals: Information trade and misinformation are perfectly viable acts. Information can be assigned monetary value and bought, traded, or sold. It is the job of him with the information to protect it. Knowledge can only be sued for in the case of copyright violation. All information trade and misinformation must follow general moral standards: do not lie, cheat, steal, or otherwise break the law in obtaining the information; also, do not knowingly contribute to the destruction of a person via information (i. e., blackmail and violence-inciting info are, as always, illegal).

Information, misinformation, ethics of information, price of information. Also, is information an item for which one should be able to pursue legal action? Discuss.

(If I've made a mistake and there is actually a US law dealing with the business of information, please inform me and don't mindlessly flame me.)

(This has nothing to do with a certain Document of Great Import, except in a stream of thought my mind eventually reached which I had considered before anyway, so said Document was really only a reminder of that train of thought) biggrin biggrin