It’s perhaps somewhat morally cowardly to worry about it, but what about legal concerns? In general offering bounties for illegal acts is illegal, and often prosecuted if someone takes you up on the bounty. I don’t think eliminating a mosquito species is explicitly illegal in any jurisdictions, but then again, one could certainly imagine prosecution in some scenarios.
You could add a clause like “This bounty will only be paid out if you did not break any laws of the United States in the process.” Uncertainty in payouts reduces the value of a bounty, but it may be worth it to encourage additional pledges.
That aside, I think this is an excellent idea. It may be a small amount of money, but you could easily imagine a junior researcher in an org working on gene drives being influenced on the margin by a bounty like this. I’ll give some thought to contributing. If I’m convinced legal issues are immaterial I’m likely to match your bounty.
It’s perhaps somewhat morally cowardly to worry about it, but what about legal concerns? In general offering bounties for illegal acts is illegal, and often prosecuted if someone takes you up on the bounty. I don’t think eliminating a mosquito species is explicitly illegal in any jurisdictions, but then again, one could certainly imagine prosecution in some scenarios.
You could add a clause like “This bounty will only be paid out if you did not break any laws of the United States in the process.” Uncertainty in payouts reduces the value of a bounty, but it may be worth it to encourage additional pledges.
That aside, I think this is an excellent idea. It may be a small amount of money, but you could easily imagine a junior researcher in an org working on gene drives being influenced on the margin by a bounty like this. I’ll give some thought to contributing. If I’m convinced legal issues are immaterial I’m likely to match your bounty.