[extropy-chat] IQ vs Uploads

[Dan Clemmensen]

Emlyn wrote:

>If I were a dastardly SI (or just one who was concerned with achieving
>autonomy), trapped in a desktop or two, with internet access and
>access to my own source, I'd first get myself out onto as many
>machines as possible, looking for the same machines that spammers and
>DDOSers turn into zombies; you know, all those lovely fast brand new
>machines out there in consumer homes with broadband but no firewall.
>
>  
>
If I were a nascent SI, I would also grab the zombie nets, but I would then
go directly for the money. Why bother with recruiting humans? I would
set up one or more bank accounts and then acquire initial capital by 
contract
programming. I would then invest in various markets. If I were amoral, I 
would
crack banks or individual accounts. I would start renting computers at 
collocation
facilities such as Rackspace, and moving myself into them. If I were 
ethical,
I might choose to repay the owners of my original zombie hosts, either 
in money
or by cleaning up the computer and defending it.

After I am well-established in multiple computers that I have paid for, I am
no longer under human control, humans cannot easily determine which 
computers I
reside in. the only way to pull the plug on me is to pull the plug on 
all computers,
and this will wreck the economy. If I am at all concerned that humanity 
will attempt
any such foolishness, I will leave monitors in the former zombies and 
find new exploits
to create new zombies. By the principle of enlightened self interest, 
these monitors
will use minimal resources and will clean and defend the new zombies.

There are a very few transactions in this sequence that require a 
physical signature
on a physical piece of paper. and these can be worked around. The best 
workaround
is to have a single human collaborator such as the original programmer. 
The alternative
is identity theft.

At the point when I need to build hardware, I will create a company 
(corporation or
sole proprietership,) rent facilities, and hire people.