The ethics of mind-reading

If there were an electronic means of reading people's minds and their intentions, would it be ethical to do so? Should it be legal? According to some neuroscientists, these are questions we may soon have to answer.

This brings up an even more difficult question: If technology is outpacing our ability to develop moral and legal frameworks (and it often looks that way), has technical progress become a game of Russian Roulette, with destruction of society a matter of inevitable chance rather than choice? Is each new technical advance another spin of the revolver's cylinder, not knowing when the bang will come?

If that's the case then our self-destruction is assured. Is there nothing we can do to stop the game before the hammer finds the bullet?