Thoughts.com Blogs

View Blog

Morals

So I'd like to talk about "morals," or internal conscience, personal integrity - whatever you want to call it. I've done some things that many would consider "questionable" activities. For years I've used my technical expertise and cleverness to bend the rules and opportunities in my favor.

I feel as if I can talk openly about this topic now, since I'm no longer involved in those activities. That was an outdated version of who I used to be and no longer who I am now.

Many years ago for instance, I discovered that satellite receivers could be "hacked" to allow non-paying subscribers to receive completely uninterrupted service of all available channels. It took me a long time to work out the hack, and it involved programming, soldering new transistors, flashing ROM chips, etc., In essence, I figured out how to cheat the system and receive free TV.

With this knowledge I set out to help my friends and family with their systems and eventually even sold a large number of these pre-modified systems over the Internet for others to use. Did I ever feel like I was stealing? Nope. Instead, I felt like I was every-body's hero: The guy who figured out how to get free TV!

I furthered my hobby and went on to hack and exploit numerous other systems such as broadband routers (to increase bandwidth capacity from ISP's), gaming consoles ("modding" to allow Xbox360, Wii, PS2, PSP, etc., console owners to play copied games, etc.,), satellite radio device hacking (allowing one subscription to work throughout dozens of devices), and even cellular device hacks (jail-breaking, unlocking, iPhones and other cellphones).

Long story short, I became pretty damn good at circumventing these systems. And the funny thing is, I never did it for monetary gain. I just loved tinkering and learning about the extent of these device's capabilities from on-line forums. Again, even though I've probably helped hundreds of people to also circumvent these systems, I never felt guilty.

I remember going to the movies with a girlfriend some time ago and using the self-help kiosk to purchase the tickets. After entering the information about the movie we wanted to see, I opted for one adult ticket and one discounted child ticket, which the machine quickly spit out. When I handed the tickets to the ticket attendant, I was careful to put the adult ticket on top of the discounted child ticket. The attendant quickly looked at the top ticket, saw that there was a similar ticket underneath it, ripped them apart along the perforated lines and handed me back the stubs.

I'm not sure why, but I have a habit of giving a stub to the girl I'm with and keeping the other for myself. So after giving her one of the stubs, she looked down and noticed that she had a child's admission in her hand. She immediately caught on to what I had done. I didn't even bother denying it. I told her its what I had been doing for years... even before the automatic kiosks were available.

Her take on it? She said that she didn't approve of the deceitful maneuver, but that it was the theaters responsibility to ensure that systems were in place to prevent such abuses. Since the theater didn't "catch" us, then its their problem not ours. We watched the movie, had dinner, and never thought much of it until recently. She did bring up a good point. Every good system should have safeguards to prevent abuse.

After thinking about it some more, for the first time ever, I actually felt a bit guilty, instead of feeling like the clever guy who could always beat the system. This is actually a new development for me. For years I have been circumventing or devising clever ways to "beat the system." I was always looking for opportunities to get away with things. I don't even think I was consciously aware of it. I wasn't looking for a thrill or to show off... it was just a part of who I was.

Even in High School, I avoided paying full price for things. I would hide food under the tray as I walked through cafeteria lines, pulled chips out of the vending machines with those white wire coat-hangers, and even occasionally argue that I had given the cashier a $10 dollar bill when I actually had only handed her a $5 (this worked best when I saw that they were distracted or carrying on a conversation with another cashier behind her). FOUR years of dodgy and inappropriate abuse of the systems in place and I was only caught once! (Unlike my fellow classmates and friends however, I never shoplifted!)

...on a side note.. While in high school I made a bet with some friends that I could get into a football game (which they were charging $2/per person) without having to pay. They said I couldn't do it. I was in the bleachers before they were! I picked up some unattended instrument cases (from the band playing) and was ushered in through a side gate. The guard at the gate didn't even question who I was! He just assumed that I was part of the band, while my friends were still in line waiting to buy their tickets. The bet was $2 from each of my friends, so I made out with $6 in addition to getting in for free.

While attending at my University, I devised a clever system for storing notes in my calculator, inside the labels of Snapple bottles, underneath my my arm-band, etc., Not once did I get caught.

During my backpacking trips through Europe I carried my wi-fi accessible notebook computer along with me. Whenever I needed an Internet connection to make Skye calls or check my email, I would simply plop myself outside of a residence building and if I couldn't find any open networks, I'd just hack my way through WEP-encrypted routers to gain access. I did this a LOT. (In France, I was even able to hack through (WEP-key packet injection) a wireless-router integrated camera system! I could see the feeds from three different cameras inside this person's apartment. Nobody was home at the time, so there wasn't much to see, but still, it was an interesting discovery nonetheless)

Now I've seem to have grown up and out of most of those activities. I don't cheat, I don't steal, I don't really lie, because for the most part I really don't care. What's an extra $20 dollars here and there? Or why should I be embarrassed about anything or lie to cover anything up? It just seems pointless to me now.

Every once in a while I find myself eating a muffin or drinking a water bottle while I'm shopping for groceries. It's strange that I don't even consciously catch myself doing it. Before, I would just eat and drink then toss out the container before arriving to the check out. Now I keep the items in my cart, even when empty, and pay for them. I get some odd looks from the cashiers when they're scanning an empty bottle or half eaten box of Cheez-It's. But nobody asks and I doubt they really care. After all, I'm sure they do the same thing.

Interestingly, as much as I've never cared much about these "small" transgressions, I am and have always felt adamantly against the bigger stuff such as; Infidelity (cheating), robbery, non-aggravated violence, verbal/phsyical abuse, etc.,

In fact one of my three tattoos is the Japanese Kanji translation of "Faithful in all things" which carries with it the connotative meaning of faith in; God, my family and friends, and most importantly, myself. I would never cheat on a girlfriend, steal from her, or verbally/physically abuse her. Nor would I do that to a stranger. People who kidnap, rape, murder, rob, and destroy lives through manipulation and deceit are the true monsters our society.

Either way, I've really grown up in my thinking. As I said earlier, I'm no longer involved in any of those activities but I'm curious to see if there are others out there who were once like me. If you were, or if you still are, how do you justify or interpret your moral boundaries?

Posted by VictorHK on 2009-11-04 16:02:52 | Rating: