Prosecutor: Dr. Frankenberg, are you aware that there is a monster roaming the countryside, stealing all the villagers’ personal information?
Dr. Frankenberg: Yes, sir, I am.
Prosecutor: And is it true, Dr. Frankenberg, that you invented this monster, in your dorm room at Harvard?
Dr.Frankenberg (proudly): Yes, sir.
Prosecutor: And are you aware that your monster is going around selling the villagers’ personal information to any Tom, Dick or Harry who will buy it?
Dr. Frankenberg: Yes, sir, that’s why I invented the monster – it’s my business model.
Prosecutor: Has your business model been successful?
Dr. Frankenberg (smugly): Oh, yes, sir, it’s made me and my friends very rich. You see the monster sends all the money to me. I only need a few engineers to make sure the monster doesn’t break down – and of course some very good lawyers – so there’s a lot left over afterwards.
Prosecutor: And are you aware that the monster helped our new Emperor, Donald the Terrible, to become emperor?
Dr. Frankenberg: I was made aware of that only just recently, but of course, I had heard of the rumours much earlier.
Prosecutor: So it was not your intent then that the monster should help Donald the Terrible?
Dr. Frankenberg: Absolutely not.
Prosecutor: And are you aware that hostile tribes outside the kingdom have used the monster to attack us?
Dr. Frankenberg: Yes, of course, that’s why I’m here – but honestly, I didn’t know about this until you did. And I made the monster get them to promise not to do that – but they are hostiles and didn’t keep their promise.
Prosecutor: It seems to me that you don’t have much control over your monster.
Dr. Frankenberg (sighs): Look, you don’t understand how this works. You design something, you throw it out into the world, then wait to see what happens. Sometimes it’s good. Sometimes it’s bad. But there would be no way to make lots of money if you didn’t do this. If you tried to control it, you wouldn’t know what it could do.
Prosecutor: So you agree that your monster is now out of your control?
Dr. Zuckerberg (frowns, drinks water): Not entirely. We tried using chains recently, but the monster is too strong – he keeps breaking them. But our engineers are working on it, believe me.
Prosecutor: Let me put this to you: you created the monster, so you are responsible for it, but you’ve not done enough to control it.
Dr. Frankenberg: That’s a bit unfair. How was I to know it would become so dangerous? I realise it now, but anyone can be smart after the event.
Prosecutor: Some of the Emperor’s advisers are suggesting that the government should try to control the monster. What are your views on that?
Dr. Frankenberg (shrugs):Well, good luck with that. You realise the monster is not just stealing from our villagers, but from everyone’s now – he’s all over the place. But if you think you can do it, don’t let me stop you.
Judge intervenes: Thank you, Prosecutor, Dr. Frankenberg. We’ll adjourn for today, but we’ll be back in court tomorrow. Dr. Frankenberg, I hope you will take advantage of this time for some thought on how we can control your monster, because you should be aware, neither I nor the government have the slightest clue about how to do this.
Court adjourns.
Dr. Tony Bates is the author of eleven books in the field of online learning and distance education. He has provided consulting services specializing in training in the planning and management of online learning and distance education, working with over 40 organizations in 25 countries. Tony is a Research Associate with Contact North | Contact Nord, Ontario’s Distance Education & Training Network.
Interesting analogy 🙂 You didn’t include the part where the prosecutor and the judge thank Dr. Frankenberg for his very generous campaign contributions 😉
Matt