DVForce Resinds Virus Prize

by Chris Christensen Add comments
categories: Macintosh

I must admit that in few stories that I conceive of or write would a lawyer ever be the hero. I suspect that I have been involved in too many lawsuits (one was too many) to tend towards that point of view. And yet in the story this week from DVForge, I find myself reexamining that opinion.

In case you missed it, a company called DVForge basically bet that someone could not write a virus for the Mac, release it into the wild and infect two particular machines. The first person to write such a virus would collect $25,000. That was the plan until one day later when one of the lawyers for DVForge explained to the president of the company that he was one diet coke short of a six pack and one fry short of a happy meal. Not to put to fine a point on it but CEO Jack Campbell is a raving looney if he ever thought that was a good idea. Among the things that your mother is supposed to teach you at an early age is that you don’t shout “fire” in a crowded theater, you don’t tug on superman’s cape and you don’t dare people to write viruses for operating systems that you actually care about.

I understand that Mr Campbell was upset at a report from Symantec that said “It is now clear that the Mac OS is increasingly becoming a target for the malicious activity that is more commonly associated with Microsoft and various Unix-based operating systems”. I also understand that the statement from Symantec is largely regarded as self-serving and doo-doo. But still, Jack… Jack… Jack… Jack.

It is not good to taunt the enemy. Need I remind you of the last words of Civil War General General John B. Sedgwick: “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this dist…”.

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by Chris Christensen

I am the Director of Engineering for TripAdvisor.com/Flights. I am also the host of the Amateur Traveler. The Amateur Traveler is an online travel show that focuses primarily on travel destinations and what are the best places to travel to. It includes both a weekly audio podcast, a video podcast, and a blog.

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