Demonized by the media as "cyber juvenile delinquents"wreaking havoc on the Internet, hackers view themselves as neither young nor intent on havoc. They are crusading to bring public attention to two areas of needed law reform: the quality and safety of software.. . .
Demonized by the media as "cyber juvenile delinquents"wreaking havoc on the Internet, hackers view themselves as neither young nor intent on havoc. They are crusading to bring public attention to two areas of needed law reform: the quality and safety of software.

They recognize that there are no training or licensing requirements for software developers, nor are there any product certification standards for this product. Due to the omnipresent disclaimer, there is effectively no legal responsibility for software quality.

The main target for hacker attacks has been Microsoft because its Windows software is the operating system for 90 per cent of desktop computers. At the hackers' Second Millennium Conference (H2K) in Pittsburgh last summer, Robert Steele, an ex-CIA agent, and keynote speaker, dramatized the situation as follows: "A car manufacturer has quality control to ensure that the bolts are tightened on the wheels of its cars. Bill Gates puts out cars without wheels."

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