IP: Re: [USA] Congress Hurries to Limit Public's Right to Know

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>Date: Thu, 20 May 99 15:16:23 PDT
>From: "Peter G. Neumann" <neumann@csl.sri.com>
>To: farber@cis.upenn.edu
>Subject: Re: IP: [USA] Congress Hurries to Limit Public's Right to Know
>
>The computer analog to the Bliley proposal would of course be
>legislation to make it illegal to post security flaws on the Web.
>That would seriously hamper RISKS, bugtraq, CERTs, rule-based expert 
>systems for misuse detection, and on ad infinitum.
>
>As usual, it is commonplace to BLAME THE INTERNET.  
>My July Inside Risks column for the Communications of the ACM is called
>
>    Information is a Double-Edged Sword
>
>The last paragraph is this:
>
>   In attempting to control societal behavior, there are always serious risks
>   of overreacting.  About 100 years ago, the Justice Department reportedly
>   proposed in all seriousness that the general public should not be
>   permitted to have automobiles -- which would allow criminals to escape
>   from the scene of a crime.  Some of that mentality is still around today.
>   However, the solutions must lie elsewhere.  Let's not bash the Internet
>   and computers for the ways in which they can be used.  Remember that
>   technology is a double-edged sword, and that the handle is also a weapon.