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Comment by toyg | Hacker News Reader

>The people doing the work for GCHQ and the NSA are just like us.

That's the scariest part: it's the banality of evil, updated for the XXI century. Would you turn down a safe and well-paid government job? Would you be a contractor building the Death Star?

(for the record, this is not a new question: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=iQd... )

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You could always take the job and then build a tiny vulnerability into the exhaust ports. It'd be incredibly difficult for anybody to take advantage of such a vulnerability, so you'd probably get away with it.

Alternatively, you perform the task faithfully and are unfairly blamed when said feature is exploited by a family cabal :

http://www.dorkly.com/article/59234/an-open-letter-from-a-de...

I turn them down in the sense that I have ruled out ever applying for those jobs. I've had enough angst when I thought my guild leadership in WoW was making unfair decisions, there is no way I could live with myself if I worked for one of these agencies.

The Death Star job would be almost impossible to turn down; space, lasers and stuff... but nope, working conditions suck, especially the boss who's a SERIOUS asshole.

A boss that kills of incompetent middle management and leaves the rank and file alone would be an improvement to some places I've worked. ;-)

Demolishing entire planets... not so much an improvement.

Lord Vader simply has high standards.

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