Shawn McMahon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: <<snip>> > There are people on the Internet for whom their PC represents a year's > labor, and a new router represents months. ...
Which rather neatly sums the whole problem up in one sentence. Odd as this will seem to many of today's (relative) youth, there was a time when seatbelts were generally viewed as an eccentric, expensive and largely unnecessary option in automobiles. Ditto crash helmets for motorcycle riders. Ditto many other things now generally considered necessary, although that position has largely come about because of legislative mandate... The appalling state of "computer and Internet security in general" (that is, a far wider issue than just the current thread topic) suggests that computer development is, in many senses, perhaps at the "Model T" stage of evolution. As the industry has shown time and again that it cannot develop reasonable standards and police itself, perhaps the age of "needing" strictly enforced legislation is rapidly approaching? It will be a chronically bad thing in many senses, but it seems the focussed self-interest of the world's richest men is not furthering standardization and safety (in fact, their continued clamouring that the software industry needs to retain its special exemptions from general trade legislation requiring products and services to be "fit for purpose" shows their true colours, given we are supposedly entering the age of Trustworthy Computing, or already in the age of unbreakable software, depending on which oracle you ascribe to). History suggests that the corporate robber barons may not be allowed to continue unfettered much longer, although in the short term, with such short-sighted folk (who are themselves part of the pigopoly) in power in the US, the date of comeuppance may be delayed somewhat. If computers and the Internet were ready for prime time _and_ the computer industry had to play by the same rules as everyone else _from the outset_, we would never have had to have this discussion... (Now, to stretch the car analogy for some fun... It seems Gates and Microsoft are in the position Ford was around the time of the Model T -- PCs running Windows do not totally dominate, but they are well ahead of the rest of the market. Perhaps we should take heart that Ford is not in that position now? And is it just me, or are Gates et al., with their TCPA/NGSCB nonsense, doing the computing equivalent of turning their Ford into an Edsel?) -- Nick FitzGerald Computer Virus Consulting Ltd. Ph/FAX: +64 3 3529854 _______________________________________________ Full-Disclosure - We believe in it. Charter: http://lists.netsys.com/full-disclosure-charter.html
