http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/84717-microsoft...

A top Microsoft executive on Tuesday suggested a broad Internet tax to help defray the costs associated with computer security breaches and vast Internet attacks, according to reports.

Speaking at a security conference in San Francisco, Microsoft Vice President for
Trustworthy Computing Scott Charney pitched the Web usage fee as one
way to subsidize efforts to combat emerging cyber threats -- a costly
venture, he said, but one that had vast community benefits.

"You could say it's a public safety issue and do it with general taxation," Charney noted.

Ultimately, Charney was only offering one suggestion during the RSA security conference; not a precise policy prescription.

But his idea has already riled many in the computer world, some of whom
have since charged Microsoft and its historically vulnerable Windows
operating system are responsible for countless, worldwide cybersecurity
problems.

Still, Charney implored those in his own industry to focus more on "social solutions" to growing Internet security concerns. He described the importance of cybersecurity in terms of national
healthcare, noting that computer ailments and hacks, like preventable
diseases, travel to and incapacitate other, connected units -- not just
the infected user's home computer.

"Just like we do defense in depth in IT, we have to do defense in depth in... response," he later added.