If the New York Times can’t call it right on child porn, no wonder they have no compunction compromising anti-terror measures by printing state secrets. Mitch Wagner, of InformationWeek, blogs this:
If an IT Manager Finds Kiddie Porn on President’s Computer, Should He call the Cops? That's a question posed to the New York Times's "The Ethicist" column. The columnist, Randy Cohen, has a completely insane response: The IT manager should remain silent. The questioner writes: "I am an Internet technician. While installing software on my company’s computer network, I happened on a lot of pornographic pictures in the president's personal directory, including some of young children — clearly less than 18, possibly early teens. It is probably illegal and is absolutely immoral. Must I call the police? I think so, but I need my job."
The Ethicist responds:
It is a crime to possess child pornography, and understandably: the sexual exploitation of children is reprehensible. Yet you have no legal obligation to contact the police, nor should you. The situation is too fraught with uncertainty. These photographs might depict — legally — not children but young-looking adults. The images could be digitally altered. Your boss may have acquired free (albeit illegal) images rather than bought them and provided a financial incentive to those who harm children. Someone other than your boss may have downloaded the pictures.
The link is behind the iron curtain of Times Select. Most likely to hide the column; it certainly isn’t because the advice is worth paying for.
Since when was the standard for ethical behavior, other than during the Clinton administration, drawn at whether something was legal or not? Ethical behavior is about right and wrong. I would say that Randy Cohen doesn’t have a clue but I don’t believe that. He knows. So does the questioner – he is just looking for someone to validate his wrong choice. Maybe that’s why he finds Times Select worth the price.
UPDATE: What answer would Mr. Ethics give if the question was "If an IT Manager Finds Kiddie Porn on a Republican Congressman's Computer, Should He call the Cops?
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