Should a robot decide when to kill?

[Darren]

Turns off laptop > climbs into cupboard under the stairs > places tin foil hat on head

Too many are turning towards technical solutions when a political solution is needed. Law binds and constrains the space in which technical solutions can be sought. Options are then eventually diminished, it's not long before technical solutions become increasingly difficult to implement and eventually law breaking.

If you want an example you only need look towards Turkey. Here is a nice synopsis from Wikipedia:

On 5 February 2014 the Turkish Parliament adopted a controversial new Internet law that:[23]

- Allows the telecommunications authority (TIB) to block any website within 24 hours without first seeking a court ruling; and
- Requires Internet providers to store all data on web users' activities for two years and make it available to the authorities upon request.

Crimes committed via the Internet are regulated by the older law, number 5651.[24]

Beside the older media control and censorship association, RTÜK, a new governmental association, Telecommunication and Transmission Authority, can impose bans on Internet sites without prior judicial approval, (i) if the offending Web site hosts content that is illegal under Turkish law and is hosted outside Turkey, or (ii) a Web site contains sexual abuse of children or obscenity and its host resides in Turkey.[20] The law prohibits:

- Crimes against Atatürk (Article 8/b),
- Offering or promoting prostitution,
- Providing place and opportunity for gambling,
- Unauthorized online gambling and betting,
- Sexual abuse of children,
- Encouraging suicide,
- Supplying drugs that are dangerous for health, and
- Facilitation of the abuse of drugs.

Web sites are also blocked for the following reasons:

- Downloading of MP3 and movies in violation of copyright laws,
- Insults against state organs and private persons
- Crimes related to terrorism
- Violation of trademark regulations
- Unfair trade regulated under the Turkish Commercial Code
- Violation of Articles 24, 25, 26, and 28 of the Constitution (freedoms of religion, expression, thought, and freedom of press).

The Turkish Telecommute Foundation has a website for public reports.[25] Decisions to block a web site can be appealed, but usually only after a site has been blocked. Nevertheless, due to the public profile of the major websites banned and the lack of juridical, technical, or ethical arguments to justify the censorship, the blocked sites are often available using proxies or by changing DNS servers.

People need to realise they have a part to play even when they lack in-depth technical knowledge. You can ignore politics but politics does not ignore you. The issue only becomes technical when the law fails and political reform proves impossible. That's a key indicator of a broken democracy. There is still time for less drastic solutions throughout Europe & the US.