Re: RE: Disclosure policy in Re: RealPlayer vulnerabilities

["Jason Coombs PivX Solutions" <jasonc () science org>]

Drew Copley wrote:
> ... ... ... ... ... ..., and, ... ... ...

Drew,

That such long and detailed explanations rationalizing, defending, and disputing disclosure policies, and correcting 
innacurate allegations concerning one's disclosure practices of the past, are necessary at all is proof that there are 
only two options: black or white. 

There are no gray areas when it comes to disclosure. Disclosure is something that good people do. Non-disclosure is 
something that bad people do. Be careful with asserting that there are lines somewhere in a gray area over which people 
should not step, for any such line is going to be a moving target, at best, and move right on past you while you are 
standing still, at worst, creating a condition where your own disclosures appear to have been malicious when viewed in 
retrospect.

To disclose, or not to disclose. That is the question.

If somebody of technical skill who has chosen disclosure decides that the circumstances warrant immediate full 
disclosure with proof of concept, then that is the action that must be taken. To do otherwise would be to go against 
one's own conscience, the core of which is already proved 'good' by the fact of the decision to disclose.

The longer one chooses non-disclosure, and the more willfully one does so, the less 'good' that disclosure appears - 
particularly after considering all of the technical truths about information security research and reverse engineering 
that you so carefully and corectly articulated.

Immediate full disclosure that cannot be disputed and leaves no room for debate immediately helps anyone who chooses to 
receive and consider the disclosure. Everything else serves only to delay and obscure that clear and urgent security 
alert communique, increasing the window of exposure and the Total Risk of Ownership needlessly.

Sincerely,

Jason Coombs
jasonc () science org

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