NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Re: Microsoft exec pitches Internet usage tax to pay for cybersecurity programs - The Hill's Hillicon Valley
----- Forwarded message from Dave Farber <dave@farber.net> ----- Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2010 09:42:42 -0500 From: Dave Farber <dave@farber.net> Subject: [IP] Microsoft exec pitches Internet usage tax to pay for cybersecurity programs - The Hill's Hillicon Valley Reply-To: dave@farber.net To: ip <ip@v2.listbox.com> Begin forwarded message: > From: "David P. Reed" <dpreed@reed.com> > Date: March 4, 2010 9:08:36 AM EST > To: dave@farber.net > Cc: ip <ip@v2.listbox.com> > Subject: Re: [IP] Microsoft exec pitches Internet usage tax to pay for > cybersecurity programs - The Hill's Hillicon Valley > > Cyberpolicing: Protecting its citizens and businesses from two classes > of threats - small-scale criminal activity/organized crime and offensive > cyberwar carried out by state-scale entities with state-scale goals - is > a function of government. So it must be paid for. I think that's > obvious. > > I am afraid that the conceptual framework most "security" folks in the > CS community live in is the fantasy around the idea that if you can > "prove software correct" there will be no threats that are carried out > against the public and private interests. > > This is like claiming that the right of a citizen to bear a Winchester > carbine rifle or a concealed pistol is the only solution needed to deal > with, say, a repeat of the Germany of the 1930's. > > We need to think about this far more carefully than the usual knee-jerk > reactions we hear in the blogosphere. > > But it's not just a *military* thing. Most nations are incented to > keep the peace. That's why we formed the United Nations, imperfect as > it is, and it's why we cooperate as nations, and for that matter as > corporations, to keep conflicts from escalating to the kind of scale > that full-blown offensive cyberwar techniques make possible. Defense is > not just a matter of deterrence or barriers. > > And yes, this may involve a *tax*. After creating so much value, the > open Internet can afford to pay some of its costs to support policing > and threat management. > > I do worry that the American public has been so stirred up by the > anti-taxers, the anti-thinkers, ... that they make themselves sitting > ducks for criminal action and offensive war carried out inside their > fibers, routers, laptops, and servers. > > This is not just a problem of irresponsible behavior by vendors in not > thinking about system vulnerabilities. It is equally a problem of > spending ALL of the effort on trivial issues like buffer overflows and > the coolness-factor-hacks that Defcon hackers do. > > But I'm afraid a toxic mix of paranoid thought processes will turn > policing and defense into nothing more than funding a bunch of what > corresponds to the cyber equivalent of Soldier of Fortune magazine > readers. > > > > On 03/03/2010 09:33 PM, David Farber wrote: >> >> >> http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/84717-microsoft-exec-pitches-internet-usage-tax-to-pay-for-cybersecurity-programs >> >> Archives > ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com ----- End forwarded message -----