The value of haphazardly teaching virus writing publicly is largely outweighed by the inherent danger.

This type of training should be provided to those in the field of defending against it, as in the realm of anti-virus utilities, or law enforcement/security.

Or, a better approach may be to simply study viruses that have already been written, and students are encouraged to look at similarities and write programs that defeat them.

In agreement with CoyoteDesigns -- Apply the same concept to post 9/11 concerns. I have trouble seeing the legitimacy of teaching a class on how to build nuclear bombs, wmd's. Even (and especially) the security around pilot training has been given a much different approach, with good reason. Viruses are much more than an annoyance to domestic users, they can be (and have been) a security issue as well.