I say they can go screw themselves . Microsoft should not be allowed to even make operating systems for computers since its full of holes and malware and viruses can get through it

Andrew Wozny
Canada Internet Examiner

The latest megalomaniacal proposal by a top Microsoft executive would open the door for government licensing to access the Internet. This would grant governmental and corporate authorities power to block individual computers from connecting to the world wide web under the pretext of preventing malware attacks.

Scott Charney, Microsoft vice president of Trustworthy Computing, stated while speaking at the 2010 SSE computer security conference that cybersecurity should mirror public health safety laws, with infected PC’s being “quarantined” by government decree and prevented from accessing the Internet.

“If a device is known to be a danger to the internet, the user should be notified and the device should be cleaned before it is allowed unfettered access to the internet, minimizing the risk of the infected device contaminating other devices, Charney said.

Charney said the system would be a “global collective defense” run by corporations and government and would “track and control” people’s computers similar to how government health bodies track diseases.

This kind of red herring scare tactic of invoking the threat of malware atacks as a means to blocking people from using the Internet is becoming a common rallying cry – unfortunately it's one poisoned with political overtones.

Under the new proposals, not only would the government cite the threat of malware to prevent people from visiting targetted websites, they would be blocked from the entire world wide web, creating a dangerous precedent by giving government the power to dictate whether people can use the Internet and effectively opening the door for a licensing system to be introduced.

Similar to how vehicle inspections are mandatory for cars in some states before they can be driven, it seems we are we entering a world where you will have to obtain a PC health check by some government agency before a government IP czar will issue you with a license, or an Internet ID card, allowing you to access the web? The only way companies or the government could know when your system becomes infected with malware is to have some kind of mandatory software or firewall installed on every PC. This opens a Pandoras box for warrantless surveillance and other invasions of privacy.

Microsoft has been at the forefront of a bid to introduce Internet licensing as a means of controlling how people access and use the world wide web, an effort that has intensified over the course of the past year.

Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer for Microsoft stated support of introducing licenses similar to drivers licenses – in other words government permission to use the web. “We need a kind of World Health Organization for the Internet,” he said.

“If you want to drive a car you have to have a license to say that you are capable of driving a car, the car has to pass a test to say it is fit to drive and you have to have insurance.”

By this system every device connected to the Internet will have a permanent license plate and without it, the network won’t allow you to log in. This entire cybersecurity agenda is couched in fearsome rhetoric about virus attacks, but its ultimate goal is to hand world governments similar powers over the Internet as those enjoyed by the Communist Chinese. Which are routinely exercised not for genuine security concerns, but to oppress political adversaries, locate dissidents, and crush free speech.

This whole Internet licensing was considered by the Chinese last year and was rejected as being too authoritarian. Too authoritarian for the Chinese but OK for big Bill Gates.

Any law which allows the government to get a foot in the door on dictating who can and can’t use the Internet should be vigorously opposed because such a system would be wide open for abuse and pave the way for full licensing and top down control of the world wide web.