porkface's Journal: hackers

"Johansen has become a symbol for hackers" - BBC online tagline for the Jon Johansen DVD CSS trial in Norway.

In a sense this statement is completely true. But in another sense it gives the impression he was a symbol for the wrong kind of computer user. Without getting much into the types of users I'm talking about, how am I to feel about these types of headlines that use the term "hacker" in ways in which it may be so easily misinterpreted...such as in this instance where I can't even presume to know if the BBC meant the good kind or the bad kind, or if they just left it up to the reader. "Conflicted" is not an acceptable answer to my query since I've got that one covered, but how am I to feel about this? I'm a hacker, but I don't mess with stuff that doesn't belong to me. I want to be able to refer to myself as a hacker without having to give a dissertation on the difference between a hacker and a cracker or good computer usage vs bad. Is there a simple solution that doesn't involve me locking myself indoors and avoiding all human contact?