Letting Go - The HBS/AY Scandal
I am sick to death of hearing about this. I am mostly tired of hearing techies proclaim that what these people did was not hacking. People seem to be grasping at straws by honing in on the “hacking” part of it, arguing that because it wasn’t really hacking and the information was there to be viewed, that nobody did anything wrong. . . . except AY for creating an insecure system, and then Harvard for choosing to punish the offenders.
Not all of us are technologically savvy enough to know the difference between a “crack” and a “hack.” Most of us are unable to draw these kinds of distinctions. It’s similar to having a computer that suddenly stops working. Most of us are not really interested in knowing if it’s the hard drive, an issue with the software, what have you. These are details with which we would rather not concern ourselves. Yes, Harvard’s use of the word has put a criminal spin on the actions of these people. But I’m guessing it was AY that told Harvard that this was hacking. The school undoubtedly just picked that up and ran with it. At any rate, Harvard’s issue wasn’t that people “hacked” into the system. Its issue was that the people who did it should have known better than to “crack” or “hack into” the system. The people should have waited for the school's decisions to be released - officially. This is what Harvard believes. And this is an argument about beliefs.
I saw the post by brookbond late that night. When I first saw the post, I knew that it was only a matter of time before it was yanked off the forum. Knowing that, would I have made the decision to check anyway? Maybe. Temptation is strong and this process is tough. I did not have an application in at a school that uses AY, so I was fortunate to have been able to allow my circumstances to make my decision for me. The fact that the post appeared so late and was gone within nine hours meant that thousands of others were equally fortunate. Most of us were simply “lucky.” Some of us were not.
This is what I believe:
Harvard is right to be upset. Do I think the school’s decision to ding all 119 was harsh? Yes, but it was the school’s decision to make.
The HBS119 feel unfairly punished and stigmatized. Certainly, what these people did does not warrant the ideological beatings they have had to endure. Whether it was ethical, opportunistic, whatever, will forever be a subject of debate. There is no "right" answer here, contrary to what the more dogmatic individuals on BW and elsewhere would have us believe.
AY has an interesting take – but I don’t agree with it. How dare the company suggest legal recourse?! Kudos to Stanford for publicly stating that AY also must be held accountable.
I think sbsean – an offender with a great deal of personal integrity – had the right idea in expressing his desire to move on and in wishing luck to all. It’s time to stop the hair-splitting, the condemnation, the self-pity, and the ridicule. It’s time to let this go.
Not all of us are technologically savvy enough to know the difference between a “crack” and a “hack.” Most of us are unable to draw these kinds of distinctions. It’s similar to having a computer that suddenly stops working. Most of us are not really interested in knowing if it’s the hard drive, an issue with the software, what have you. These are details with which we would rather not concern ourselves. Yes, Harvard’s use of the word has put a criminal spin on the actions of these people. But I’m guessing it was AY that told Harvard that this was hacking. The school undoubtedly just picked that up and ran with it. At any rate, Harvard’s issue wasn’t that people “hacked” into the system. Its issue was that the people who did it should have known better than to “crack” or “hack into” the system. The people should have waited for the school's decisions to be released - officially. This is what Harvard believes. And this is an argument about beliefs.
I saw the post by brookbond late that night. When I first saw the post, I knew that it was only a matter of time before it was yanked off the forum. Knowing that, would I have made the decision to check anyway? Maybe. Temptation is strong and this process is tough. I did not have an application in at a school that uses AY, so I was fortunate to have been able to allow my circumstances to make my decision for me. The fact that the post appeared so late and was gone within nine hours meant that thousands of others were equally fortunate. Most of us were simply “lucky.” Some of us were not.
This is what I believe:
Harvard is right to be upset. Do I think the school’s decision to ding all 119 was harsh? Yes, but it was the school’s decision to make.
The HBS119 feel unfairly punished and stigmatized. Certainly, what these people did does not warrant the ideological beatings they have had to endure. Whether it was ethical, opportunistic, whatever, will forever be a subject of debate. There is no "right" answer here, contrary to what the more dogmatic individuals on BW and elsewhere would have us believe.
AY has an interesting take – but I don’t agree with it. How dare the company suggest legal recourse?! Kudos to Stanford for publicly stating that AY also must be held accountable.
I think sbsean – an offender with a great deal of personal integrity – had the right idea in expressing his desire to move on and in wishing luck to all. It’s time to stop the hair-splitting, the condemnation, the self-pity, and the ridicule. It’s time to let this go.
posted by Jerry Blank at 2:45 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home