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It's not an approach without drawbacks or ethical grey areas, that's for sure. Going by the article that OP submitted my personal take on it is that the police
by grpdn 10y ago
It's not an approach without drawbacks or ethical grey areas, that's for sure. Going by the article that OP submitted my personal take on it is that the police made an acceptable trade-off in that instance. Had my child been abused by somebody involved in that forum in between the police's initial infiltration of it and closing it down I'm sure that my feelings would be very different.
That's an interesting case that you linked though, I'd be curious to read more details about it.
- chongli 10y agoAfter a bit of Googling, I turned up this novel [0] by the Jane Doe who successfully brought the suit. As for the original ethical question, I believe the tradeoff is an utilitarian one. Personally, I find utilitarian arguments totally unconvincing because the measure of utility is subjective. People read about the murder of a stranger in the morning paper, finish their breakfast, and carry on with their day without a second thought; the murder had a miniscule effect on them. For the victim, on the other hand, the entire universe has been permanently destroyed, causing an infinite loss of utility. [0] https://www.amazon.ca/Story-Jane-Doe-Book-About/dp/0679312757 https://www.amazon.ca/Story-Jane-Doe-Book-About/dp/067931275...
- grpdn 10y agoThanks, I may well track down that book. I've never explicitly thought about the issue in utilitarian terms but it's given me something to think about.